


Mirror of Malice

by 6_Binx_6



Series: Tales of Devil May Cry [3]
Category: Devil May Cry, DmC: Devil May Cry
Genre: Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, Ascension, Becoming An Angel, Blood, Complete, Demon Sex, Energy Transference, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Explicit Language, F/F, F/M, Family, Guns, Implied/Referenced Mind Control, Implied/Referenced Torture, Life Drain, Lust, Mind Rape, Mind Reading, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Sex, Shadows - Freeform, Slow Burn, Stripping, Swordfighting, Violence, Weddings, learning to love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2018-03-19
Packaged: 2019-02-23 11:39:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 51
Words: 71,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13189296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/6_Binx_6/pseuds/6_Binx_6
Summary: Life began...In the shadows...Or more specifically the shadow of an angel.I don't remember how I came to be what I am now, but I remember the shadows. I remember I was part of them and they were part of me. I watched from the darkness as the Angel, theTrophy, was brought to the cell far below in the dungeons of the castle of Lord Mundus. I watched as she was tortured and beaten. Years of pain. Years of silent tears and horrific screams.It wasdelightful.**This work also contains artwork by Limboolian, a big fan of the Tales of Devil May Cry series.**





	1. Shadows

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AutoMattyC](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AutoMattyC/gifts), [Aratoamin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aratoamin/gifts), [ArchangelsTalons](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArchangelsTalons/gifts), [Limboolian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Limboolian/gifts).



> So I wasn't sure if I was going to turn my _Angels May Fall_ into a series or not, but I had an idea that came to me while I was working and well...
> 
> Here we are.
> 
> This one picks up almost immediately after the tail end of _Angels May Fall,_ taking a bit from the Happy Ending and the Dramtic ending. 
> 
> As always, I do not own any part of Devil May Cry, just my OCs and the plot. Any similarities are purely coincidence. 
> 
> Comments are always welcome. I respond to every one I get, so don't be shy to tell me this sucks or not. ^_^
> 
> Also, I'm gifting this work to some kick ass people who commented regularly and were big fans of AMF. This one is for you guys, thank you so much.

Life began... 

In the shadows... 

Or more specifically the shadow of an angel. 

I don't remember how I came to be what I am now, but I remember the shadows. I remember I was part of them and they were part of me. I watched from the darkness as the Angel, the _Trophy_ , was brought to the cell far below in the dungeons of the castle of Lord Mundus. I watched as she was tortured and beaten. Years of pain. Years of silent tears and horrific screams.

It was _delightful_. 

Her voice was truly magnificent even when filled with pain. 

Such strength. 

Such determination not to be lost to the Darkness. 

She was Light given form and I found myself wanting to touch that light. To bathe in it and hold it as my own. It promised freedom... 

Then the man came, the abomination of Sparda...Vergil. 

The cold puppet of Lord Mundus, a pathetic being with human blood. She took pity on him. Pity is a useless emotion. It shows weakness, allowing one to be used and tossed aside like trash.

I watched as she slowly broke the mental chains Lord Mundus had placed on him. Just as he knew she would. I saw their love grow in the darkest pits of Hell and scorned them both out of jealousy.

And yet... 

I yearned for it. 

_Despicable... Useless... Emotions..._

I watched on as Vergil was chained by her Will to forget her, escaping Hell through the Hell Gate. Lord Mundus watched too, laughing gleefully as his plan came into being. He did not plan on the Nephilim being born. He had thought to be the one to make her truly his, body and soul. He was so angry that Hell shook with his fury and when her belly grew with the grandson of Sparda. When she gave birth to him, Lord Mundus had half a mind to kill him. 

He whispered in the darkness of his castle; scheming, planning... 

Laughing as he made his way down to the Angel's cell and snatched her young from her without care. He tossed the baby through the Hell Gate into the Human world with no remorse. For only Sparda and his kin could travel between the planes of reality, a secret only Lord Mundus knew until I followed. 

I was captured then, pulled from the shadows I was born from. I screamed. I thrashed. I was furious. But it was useless to disobey Lord Mundus. He sealed me into a small piece of Divine metal, fixing my very essence to it like a leach. 

I found myself in the cell of the Angel, the pathetic creature still as death and covered in the blood of her newborn. I loathed her even then, her despair was not enough for her Sins.  As Lord Mundus carved into her flesh, her screams filling the room most sweetly; he placed the piece of the Divine metal into her heart. Burying it deep inside her chest and away from prying eyes. She passed out from pain soon after as her body started to heal. She’d never remember the incident, which didn’t matter.  

My orders were absolute. 

If his _Trophy_ failed in her purpose, I was to bring her back with the holy demon sword, Yamato. I would be rewarded with infinite power. 

_Oh yes...  
_

_Power..._

As luck would have it, the Angel failed in a way. 

She must have regained her memories as I felt the power of Yamato sing as it cut her flesh, felt the fingers of the Nephilim as he pulled loose the metal I was bound too.

_I was free...  
_

_In the human world..._

They casted the metal aside, discarding me like the idiots they were and when the ancient writing flared with power releasing me... I laughed. It bubbled up from my body...

 _Body?_

I never had a body before... 

As I felt my new form I realized I had hands and feet. And curvy hips and large breasts... 

Bringing my hands to my face, I found that my features were feminine. A nearby puddle of water in a filthy street showed my hair was short and red. My eyes were black and my lips were full.

I looked... _good._

Smirking, I ran my hands over my new body, tracing the curves and recognizing their shape. Lord Mundus had given me the form of the Angel. However, with differences that were much more razor sharp than hers. 

I grinned at the puddle, my face showing little sharp pointy fangs.

"How delicious..." 

My voice sounded like the Angel's too. 

A flash of silver around my neck reflected from the puddle and caught my eye. _A collar?_

A _slave_...collar... 

I growled and smacked the water with my fist. I would not be a slave for long. I'd find the Angel, bring her back in pieces with the sword, Yamato and I would gain power. Such power as to make a name for myself in the deepest parts of Hell. 

I would not be a mere Shadow... 

I would not be a doppelgänger... 

I would choose my own image and be feared... 

Because fear was power and power was absolute. 

"Let's play."


	2. Luck

I discovered that having a body was both thrilling as it was annoying. I wasn't able to blend in with the shadows anymore and because of my appearance, I ended up drawing attention to myself. It took me a moment to realize the problem.

_Clothes..._

Apparently, clothing was a necessity in the Human world. I clicked my tongue in annoyance as I slinked through the darkened alleyway I had awakened in. I had passed a few dirty humans that smelled of rotting food and grit. Some stared, others leered. One dirt ridden human decided to reach a handout and run a dirty finger down my pale skin. It was bad enough that his smell made my eyes water, touching me was unforgivable.

 _So_ , I broke his neck.

Ohhh that crunch of bone and ripping tissue was _so_ beautiful! As a Shadow, I wasn't able to touch physical things the way this body could. I could feel his heart stop through the veins in his neck. I saw his energy leave him, as his eyes dulled accompanied by the screams of other humans in the night and I laughed gleefully.

"Ohhh, you poor thing."

I caressed the deadman’s face, it was funny. Alive he was disgusting, dead he was kind of cute.

Ah well, that's how it goes.

I yanked his filthy coat off of him. I would have rather walked around naked, but I needed to blend in. This would have to work for now. I took his pants too, making sure that his corpse was stuffed into a nearby bin.

Seriously, someone should clean up this alley, it was lined with trash and debris.

Dressed, though smelly, I left the alleyway in favor of the lit street and busy roads. The city was abuzz with life and the industrial smell of car exhaust and the night filled my lungs. Breathing deeply, I let the smells of the city settle in my body. This was so much better than Hell! No wonder demons wanted to rule it. There were blinking things in the sky, shining like the finest jewels. And just like the sky, the buildings were covered in bright lights and rich colors.

People walking down the streets seemed lost in their misery and burdens. Such pathetic, sad souls... I felt for a moment that I could feel their pain, their desires, their wishes… But the feeling was gone just as it came and I found myself grinning as I began walking down the sidewalk.

"Now...if I were an Angel, where would I hide?" I hummed to myself thoughtfully as I walked. Surely if my nakedness attracted attention, her feathered wings would too. Maybe I could ask around if anyone had seen her.

The collar on my neck flared and I hissed as my flesh blistered and bled. I reached for it to yank it off and it flared hotter until I let out a pained cry.

"For fuck's sake! I did nothing!" I screamed as I ducked into a nearby alley as the others on the street started to notice me.

In the darkness of the alleyway, out of sight of humans, the collar finally stopped burning. I growled, forcing my hands away from my neck and clenching my fists until my nails dug into my palms drawing blood.

The Divine metal...

Lord Mundus would make sure I followed his plans to the letter. I couldn't ask around for the Angel, I had to sniff her out.

The metal hummed along my skin and I swallowed roughly wanting to rub the raw and blistered skin. I couldn't see the underside of the collar as it was tight along my skin, but I just knew the angelic script was written there with his intent. The outside of the collar was as smooth as a mirror, a perfect circle almost molded to my neck.

"Fuck..."

Only he could remove this collar of slavery and only if I succeeded. I barely managed to hold back my nasty thoughts about Lord Mundus. If he felt my intent to ask around about the Angel, then he could feel my vicious thoughts in his direction.

I growled and slowly let my fists unclench. This city was massive, with hundreds and thousands of people. Luckily, I'd watched the Angel for a long time. Sneering, I adjusted my smelly coat. All I would have to do is follow the Light, her light. Her energy would have left a trail right to her like a beacon.

However, it could take time to find her still. I'd have to blend in better.

"Well then, let's find something that smells a bit better."

When the collar didn't flare I grinned wickedly, "Glad you agree."

* * *

"Oh yeah, baby..." Dante purred as he eyed his latest issue of _Silver & Lead_. This month’s centerfold was of a newly crafted set of handguns with laser sights and armor piercing rounds. The sleek gun metal was gorgeous and dreamy looking. He'd never part with Ebony or Ivory, but hey it didn't hurt to drool a little.

"Seriously? The magazine again? I'd say I was worried about your personal life, but I know you don't have one." Lady snickered as she crossed her arms over her chest.

She had just returned from a demon hunt a few towns over; Trish was currently seeing to getting the civilians back to their homes. Dante had decided to hold down the fort since Nero was currently in the Castle Town of Fortuna getting ready to get married. His brother Vergil and his new wife, Mercy, were currently on their honeymoon. Needless to say, with the two pairs of lovebirds gone, the place felt empty.

Dante snorted as he flipped the page by licking his fingertips, "Do you have to bust my balls? I'm trying to read here." He gave her a pointed look. Lady brushed it off and leaned her hip up against his desk, purposely bumping it to irritate him.

"I enjoy picking on you." She smirked, looking at him over her glasses with her bi-eyes.

"I can feel the love," Dante said rather blandly, not looking up from his magazine.

Lady watched him for a moment before sighing loudly, "Jesus, enough moping. Go do something. Go get a lap dance at Love Planet or get a Strawberry Sundae. Go find a hookup or something."

Dante snorted and flipped another page, he continued to say nothing. Despite his normal happy go lucky self, lately, he felt... Lonely? Or maybe stuck? It was a complicated feeling, one he never really bothered to pay much attention to before. But seeing his brother happy and with a family... Not that he didn't love his brother and wish him happiness, but it hurt a little. That cold son of a bitch had a son and an Angel for a wife. Dante had never wanted to be 'tied down', but from the outside, it looked...nice.

Lady huffed and threw her hands up in the air. "Whatever." Her shoes clicked on the new hardwood and were soon followed by the front door opening and closing.

Dante sighed, now unable to enjoy his magazine due to all the shitty emotions running through his head. Tossing the magazine down on the desk, he stood up and straightened his coat. Lady was right damnit. He needed to stop his moping and go do something.

Maybe he'd get lucky and sweet talk one of the girls into coming home with him for the night?

Dante grinned as he checked to make sure his guns were in his holsters.

"Yeah, time to get lucky."


	3. Jackpot

Humans were fragile.

They broke easily and bled in big huge puddles. They all screamed too, which was annoying.

The clothing store was closed when I approached, but somehow I could sense that there were two women in the back. Normally, I wouldn't have a problem slipping into the store through the smallest cracks around the door. However, I had a solid body now which made things messier than I was used to.

Breaking the handle on the door, I walked in and went straight back to where the two women were. The one was short, round and had blonde curly hair. Her doe colored eyes looked startled while the other one looked stern and harder around the edges. She was considerably older than the blonde one too, with long grey hair and a small frame bony frame.

"Excuse me," I grinned brightly, "but I'm looking for some clothes and your little store caught my eye."

"What are you doing in here? We’re closed." The old woman said, shooting a glare at the shorter blonde.

I chuckled, "I'm here for clothes."

The blonde whispered to the older woman in a panicked voice, “I locked the door, I swear!”

When I turned my attention to her, she stiffened as I stepped closer. The older woman reached under the nearby counter as I moved. I had to give her credit, her face gave nothing away. However, her energy hummed with intent and before I could really process what was happening, I leaped at her and tore her throat out with my teeth.

Blood sprayed the short blonde, making her scream as the old woman gargled. Her blood was rich like a wine and I could feel her energy seep into my body. It was exciting and made my body vibrate with need. I wanted more of this feeling.

The blonde one died quickly too, but had more energy packed in her young body. Where the old woman was rich and hearty, the blonde was fresh and almost bubbly. When I absorbed the last of her energy, I dropped her on the floor next to the old woman.

I'd never felt energy like this before. I had never been very aware of energy and now that I had a taste, I could feel it _everywhere_.

People outside...

Down the street...

In their cars...

I giggled unable to control myself. I felt giddy and full of energy. I stripped out of the smelly clothes and tossed them aside. Curious as to what the old woman and reached for, I checked under the counter. It took me a moment but I pulled out a strange looking piece of metal. There was a word for it that popped into my head.

"Ahh, so this is a gun." I smiled and patted it like an old friend. "I can't wait to play with you, but first..."

I found a small room with a sink and managed to clean all the blood off my face and skin. After that, it was only a matter of choosing the clothes. There were lots of different kinds, made of different cloths. There were so many to try on and after dancing in front of a mirror I found the perfect clothes.

Ones that accented my figure.

The black tank top had the cutest skull on the front of it in sparkly stones and I found a short skirt that was red and black. The tag said it was 'plaid', whatever that was. I also found shoes that were heavy duty boots that came up my ankles. I took the old woman's gun and tucked it in the band on the back of my skirt.

Pausing to look at myself in the mirror I frowned. Something was missing. Shirt, skirt, shoes... I even put on something called 'lingerie' under my clothes to keep my overly large breasts in place and my rear covered if I ran.

"Hmmm...Ah-ha!" I said, snapping my fingers, "A coat."

Snatching a black leather fitted jacket off one of the racks, I left the store the way I came. I smelled much better and I knew I blended in easier with the crowd. With the life energy of the women humming through my body, I felt good.

Maybe this new found ability was an echo of the Angel's? Angels were said to purify demonic energy, but I had always chalked it up to myth. Lord Mundus was wise in thinking of transferring part of her power to me. It would be much easier to take the Angel by surprise.

The sword would be harder to find, but I was sure she knew where it was. After all, Divine beings were drawn to Divine instruments. Or at least that was the myth.

As I walked down the streets, I felt myself being drawn towards the north side of the city. It actually didn't take long to get there as my body seemed to move faster than my awareness. I soon found myself outside of a small multi-leveled building. From the energy drifting around, it seemed there were multiple humans that lived here.

However, I wasn't concerned about them.

The Angel's energy seemed to leave a bright trail through the building to one of the upper levels.

"Jackpot." I grinned as I skipped to the front door. Maybe I could be free of this wretched slave collar sooner than even Lord Mundus planned. I'd be free to take any form I wanted and be granted power.

Humming happily to myself, I was pleased to find that the front door was open. The heavenly stink of the Angel coated the inside of the building and I snorted. What an idiot to leave a trail right to her home. It trailed up the stairs and to a door at the end of a hallway. Faintly, I felt the energy of a human on the other side of the walls and door. Why would a human be here? Wasn't this the Angel's home? Maybe she had a servant?

Deciding not to ponder the 'why' too much, I pulled the gun out and in one smooth motion kicked the door inward off its hinges. The bang was loud and the energy spiked in the building from the startled reactions to it.

Laughing brightly at the zinging feel of it tickling my skin, I called out for the Angel Even though I knew she wasn't there. Surely this human would know where she was and if not, well I could still have a little fun.

"Mercy. Oh, Mercy! Time to come home!" I said in a sing-song voice. The human in the room stood before me with a large gun barrel pointed at my chest. Her short black hair and bi-colored eyes looked fierce as she glared at me. It was clear she recognized my face and I grinned showing my pointy teeth.

"Who are you?" She demanded and I found myself giggling as I pointed my own gun at her.

"Malice," I said innocently, pulling the trigger.


	4. Bullets

"Oh baby, you're just too good to me," Dante smirked as Tina, his favorite dancer at Love Planet, danced in cute pink lacy panties before him. Her frame was thin, yet she had the nicest rack of all the dancers and danced like a dream. Lady was right, this was a good distraction.

Tina flipped her blonde hair back as she slowly stood up from her bent over position in front of him. Her ass was a little on the small side, but beggars couldn't be choosers. She ran her fingers through her blonde hair and her smokey brown eyes were seductive as she climbed on top of his lap to straddle him. It was her classic move and he loved it.

"I missed you, Dante, you haven't been by lately."

Dante smirked as she fingered his red leather coat and slowly shifted her hips to tease him. It was true that he hadn't been around for a while. With everything that happened with his brother's sweetie and the increase in demon attacks—.

"I've been busy. But I'm never too busy to visit you, baby." He purred as he eyed her large breasts. Their perky nipples rubbed on his coat as she ran her fingers through his hair. He could feel the strain beginning in his pants, but it wasn't with the normal gusto. It wasn't even Tina's fault, he'd hooked up with her before on lonely nights so he knew he could again. But there was just something missing that he couldn't really explain. Or maybe he just didn't want to take the time.

Dante's cell phone rang in his coat pocket just as Tina started to nibble on his earlobe. Pulling his phone out of his pocket he glanced at the ID. _Lady?_ That was weird, she never called him unless it was an emergency.

Or she wanted money...

Dante frowned. Thanks to Mercy, all the bills at the shop were all caught up and now paid on time. She was an excellent house and bookkeeper, not to mention a demon ass-kicking machine.

"Sorry baby, I gotta take this." He said to Tina, who sighed and pulled away from him.

"Times up anyway." She said completely uncaring and Dante chuckled to cover up the ache that rose up out of nowhere. So much for keeping him company. Hitting the answer button, Dante held the phone up to his ear as he watched Tina grab her teddy and leave the private room.

"Hell-O Lady. Miss me already?" He said smoothly into the phone.

"Dante, we have a problem." Lady's irritated voice came over the line followed by loud, manic laughter that clearly wasn't hers.

"Who's that?" Dante asked, sitting forward as his tone turned serious. The loud boom of Lady's cannon gun sounded followed by a few loud pops of a gun he didn't recognize.

"I think it's Mercy's doppelgänger—I managed to get her out of my apartment building, but—" Another loud shot was fired, a distant scream that sounded eerily like Mercy followed it.

Dante was already up and moving before the scream ended. Slipping out the back door he began running toward the street. There was smoke that was steadily rising in the north part of the city. It must have been a hell of a fight if there was something on fire already.

"I'm coming." Dante hung up and dashed out of the back alley and into the street where his car was. It was a sleek red sports car that he had fixed up through the years. Jumping into the driver side, he started the car and with the loud squeal of tires, took off down the road.

* * *

"You stupid, silly bitch!"

Let's be honest, I was using slang terms I wasn't familiar with. After absorbing the energy from the two women in the clothing store, some of their knowledge passed to me and I was using it as fast as it came to me. That included their vocabulary and the understanding that my once cute outfit was now dirty and covered in my own black blood. My wounds had healed quickly, which was good. However, the gun I had lifted from the old dead woman was empty now, which was stupid.

_Why the hell would you have a weapon then ran out of ammo?!_

The 'silly bitch' in question, the woman with bi-eyes and a large gun, had managed to somehow maneuver me to an empty street. I really didn't care that she had, mostly I was having fun taunting her. I found that my speed was much faster than I had originally thought and had fun dodging her shots. It wasn't long before the few parked cars on the street were on fire, littering the ground with debris. It was a marvelous sight and I laughed.

Unfortunately, she caught me by surprise with one of her shots and I ended up screaming and cursing at her. The large hole in my side knitted together quickly, but my shirt would never be the same.

"That's it! I've tried being nice, but now you're just pissing me off. Since you won't tell me where the Angel is, I'm gonna drain your energy and rip your pretty little eyes out."

The woman smirked and popped in another clip. I felt the dark energy inside myself grow and burn in my hands as I glared at her. She had the nerve to smile?!

"Bring it on, doppelgänger." Her voice was nasty and I growled.

"Don't call me that!" I ran at her, dark energy swirling around my hands as I slashed at her. She was slightly faster than I anticipated, but still no match for me. A few more quick strikes and I hit her square in her chest, causing her to gasp in pain as the dark energy I had summoned tightened around her.

Giggling, I stood in front of her and watched as she screamed in pain and anger. Such a feisty thing. It was a pity that—

A chorus of gunfire sounded and a second later I felt bullets pierce my body. I growled, turning to face the direction of gunfire as a shiny red car drifted to a sudden stop in the street. Tossing my red hair out of my black eyes, I bent and picked up the woman's cannon gun. She was still a screaming delightful lump on the ground.

Served her right.

Setting the large gun on my shoulder, I smiled sweetly at the driver. It was hard to see their face because of the headlights, but I wasn't worried. The bullet holes had already healed and I was still feeling pretty good.

The door opened and a tall figure stepped out. A man, as far as I could tell. A second later the headlights turned off as well as the engine and I got my first clear look at him. He was dressed in red, from head to toe. His leather coat was long, paired with fingerless gloves and leather boots. From the shape of his body, it was easy to tell that he was strong. However, the most striking feature was his face. His sharp jaw line with white hair and blue eyes was beautiful the same way as the Angel.

He looked oddly familiar, though I couldn't place from where.

"Excuse me, but I'd appreciate it if you'd let my friend go." His voice was smooth, playful even and I found myself grinning.

"Nope. Sorry. She pissed me off and ruined my clothes. Do you have any idea how hard I worked to find something I liked? Besides, I'm hoping her screams bring the Angel out of hiding."

The man's face didn't react at all to what I said. Instead, he nodded and walked a little forward and then paced a bit.

"Well, I guess we don't have much of a choice."

I was taken by surprise as he pulled out a black handgun and fired a shot faster than any human. The speed was almost demonic and because I didn't see it coming, it hit me in the head. I felt the bullet enter between my eyes and exit out the back of my skull. A second later I felt my body drop to the ground and heard the woman stop screaming. Darkness filled my vision and I had one thought.

_That bastard..._


	5. Screaming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year readers!
> 
> Thank you for checking this out. If you haven't already, please read the first part 'Angels May Fall'. There's a lot of references to that story in this one that might be easier to understand if you read it in order.
> 
> Thank you guys!

I drifted in the darkness for a while. It was soothing, empty and silent. The fact that I was no longer aware of my body didn't concern me. It was almost a relief to not have a body anymore, the weight of it was heavy.

It was good to be free...

Pain – hot, scorching and nasty, ripped through me from nowhere. The pain was given voice by my scream and suddenly I felt slammed back into the body I had woken up in. The pain radiated from my neck, the collar flaring white hot and making me thrash. I tried to reach up to yank it off, but my hands were bound somehow that I couldn't see. I felt my body convulse as the pain intensified to the point where I felt my chest would explode and my bones would turn to dust.

I begged for the pain to stop. I cried out in desperate sobs. I'd do anything, say anything, _be_ anything to make it stop. The words were lost in my screams but they were there, filled with agony. Somewhere in between my screams and my useless begging, large strong hands cupped my face and held me still.

Energy filled with a calmness that slowly pushed the pain away enveloped me. It washed the pain away like a cool rain and my screams became a shallow whimper. The energy was confident, easy and gentle. I was thankful that the pain was now gone and whispered my thanks to that energy as I slipped back into the darkness...

* * *

 

Dante slowly let the doppelgänger with red hair collapse back onto the floor. Her skin was already healing quickly at the same rate that Mercy's did. It wasn't surprising to him that this one looked exactly like her. Her soft pale skin, curvy body, and face were a dead match.

The surprising part was that she had short red hair, black eyes and her back (from what he could see of it anyway) had faint outlines; that upon closer inspection looked like a tattoo of feathered wings.

He'd never seen a doppelgänger that wasn't a one hundred percent spot on look-alike of their prey. Certainly never one that didn't know where their prey was and was actively looking for them. Somehow, the shiny collar around her neck seemed to be the cause of that. After Mercy had divulged that Yamato, his brother's sword, was made of something called 'the Divine metal' he'd been looking at other weapons for hints of it. This was the first time he'd seen a fully solid piece, aside from his brother's sword and Mercy's old harness that had once bound her wings.

After he had shot the doppelgänger in the street, he expected it to fade back to its shadow form and disappear. Instead, its body remained, shifting from a solid form to a dark shadow for only a split second before becoming solid again. It was honestly the weirdest fucking thing he'd ever seen...

And he'd seen some pretty weird shit in his day.

Aside from the weird ass doppelgänger, Lady was fine after the demon was shot. Well, ‘fine’ as in pissed off, wounded and ready to cut the doppelgänger's head off. It had taken a lot of soothing on his end and a phone call to Trish to get her to calm down. As luck would have it, Trish was already back in the city and was headed to their location. The state of their apartment and the sound of Lady's cannon gun had been a dead giveaway to trouble.

Trish arrived and helped to secure the doppelgänger with some special demonic cuffs she had fashioned with Mercy's help. They were partly made from her old harness with new angelic etchings to bind the demon. Even though he knew, he honestly couldn't stop from asking where she got them and what she used them for. It was worth the ass chewing to tease Trish and Lady mercilessly about their sex life.

They put the doppelgänger in the passenger seat and agreed they would meet at the shop in the morning. Till then, he'd make sure she stayed put. He didn't want his brother or Mercy to worry, so he decided not to call them after he got back to the shop. He also didn't think it would be a good idea to put the demon in his room, so he set her gently down in Mercy's old room.

That's when all hell broke loose.

The doppelgänger started screaming and thrashing. It's body twisting, causing its bones to creak with the strain. The solid collar around its neck glowed hot white and its skin blistered, oozing black demon blood to stain the hardwood floor.

Lady would be pissed off about the floor again.

That aside, it was unnerving watching it scream and twist from the pain. If he was completely honest with himself, it was hard to keep thinking of her at that moment as a mere demon, a doppelgänger or as 'it'. She looked so much like Mercy and her scream, a dead match for hers. It pulled at his heart a bit in a way that he wasn't sure what that said about his feelings towards Mercy.

She screamed for so long, he thought she would never stop screaming; he wasn't even sure what he could do to stop it.

Energy trans—whatever, was Mercy's area. She was slowly teaching Nero since he was part Nephilim, but it was a slow process. Besides, they were all off doing their 'lovey-dovey' stuff.

Just when he was thinking of gagging her, she spoke between her screams.

"Please—!" More screaming... "I'll do any—" More screaming and thrashing... "I'll _be_ anything you want—! Just—" Tears of pain slipped out of her closed eyes as she screamed more, "MAKE IT STOP!"

Well, shit...

He couldn't ignore that...

Dante wasn't sure what he was doing, but he slipped off his gloves and tried his best to remember what Mercy had told him about light and dark energy. It was a complicated mess of crap he hadn't really paid much attention to, but he tried anyway. He managed to grab her face with his hands, glad that the angelic etchings on the cuffs were keeping her inhuman speed slower than normal.

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes as he tried to send his energy to her. It was hard because she was still thrashing around and screaming. Honestly, after a few moments, he didn't think this half-baked plan of his was working. But then he felt something dark, frantic and terrified latch onto him like a lifeline. Whatever had caused the collar to flare was trying to break her...literally to pieces. Once he felt her demonic dark energy grab hold, it seemed to calm down as it started to pull on his energy.

It was...

Painful and yet it felt like the best fucking feeling in the world. The mix of pain as she pulled on his energy with the feel of her energy calming down and pushing a rush of relief into him had brought him to his knees and panting. Sweat broke out over his body until her screams faded to a whimper and then finally stopped altogether. Her eyes fluttered open, unfocused and teary, as she whispered.

"...thank you..."

Her energy receded, releasing him suddenly just as the collar stopped glowing.

Now he was sitting, leaned up against the wall of Mercy's old room. One arm propped up on a bent knee as his other leg laid straight, watching her breathe deep even breaths.

Doppelgängers by nature had the ability to mimic their prey's abilities. But they were just a copy. This though...what he just felt. From how Nero and Vergil had explained it... This was not a mimic of Mercy's Divine power... It was the real deal.

"Holy fuck..."


	6. Tease

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for your comments, kudos and bookmarks! ^_^ I'm glad you guys are enjoying this.
> 
> As a side note, I placed a new work called 'Open Special Requests' where I'm taking people's requests for either one shots or full blown fics. If your interested check it out!

The smell of something delicious wafted in front of my face like a seductive tease. My abdomen cramped and I had the feeling like my body was trying to eat itself. It was a new feeling that I didn't know and it took a moment to find the word for it in the knowledge I'd gained from the two dead women.

_Hunger..._

Snapping my eyes open, I came face to face with a plate piled high of—.

"Good morning Sexy, figured you might be hungry."

I recognized the voice as the man who had shot me in the head last night. Growling, I went to sit up as I eyed the plate he was holding out with a partially gloved hand. My arms wouldn't cooperate with me for some reason. It took me a moment to realize they were tied behind my back and I clicked my tongue.

"Good morning Bastard. Is it common curtesy to tease someone with...? Whatever that is when they are hungry?" My voice was nasty as I tried to break the metal enclosed around my wrists. They wouldn't budge and the man chuckled.

"Nah, but it is fun to watch you squirm around on your belly like that. It's a nice view if I do say so. And this," he set the plate down a few inches from my face, making a grand gesture to it like it was some kind of prize. "Is pizza."

I growled lowly, the sound vibrating against the hard wood floor, "Fuck you."

He laughed.

It was loud, happy and full of amusement. It wasn't cruel at all, which was unusual. I'd never heard laughter sound like that. I stopped squirming as I listened to it. I...didn't know laughter could be so—.

"Man, you're a riot. Feisty and sexy, too bad you're a doppelgänger." His voice changed from the happy laughter to suddenly serious. It was then that I felt him grab me with his strong hands on my arms and sit me up. I growled lowly at the 'doppelgänger' term. I didn't understand why it was pissing me off so much. But I knew I didn't like it.

The man squatted in front of me, white hair a little messy and in his bright blue eyes. He wore no shirt, just a pair of leather pants and boots. I had been right when I figured he was strong. His chest was broad and muscles covered every inch of him from what I could see. A word popped into my head...

_Wow._

He was...

I blinked, glaring at him as he gave me a playful smile. I didn't know if it was because of this body or the knowledge from the two women, but I felt...weird. My heart was racing and I felt like I wanted to wrap my legs around him and drink him down.

_What the hell?! Why would I want to do that?!_

"Alright Sexy, since I don't trust you and you obviously can't be loose in the big bad world; you're stuck here until we figure out what you are doing here." The man grabbed a piece of the so called pizza and held it up in front of my face. The smell alone made my mouth water and my stomach growled loudly. Jesus, this body was a lot of work.

Maybe it was because he was being an ass, a playful one at that, but I decided I wasn't going to make it easy on him. Smirking, I crossed my legs under myself and smiled sweetly at him. I let my voice drop just a touch to what I thought would sound seductive as I eyed him.

"You don't trust me? But I don't trust you. How do I know you won't kill me? Or torture me? Though, that does sound fun." I showed a hint of my sharp teeth as I eyed him.

His face didn't give anything away, just like when he shot me in the head. Instead he chuckled and set the piece of pizza down on the plate. Standing, he ran his large hand through his white hair for a moment before bending down at his hip, his face inches from mine. The close proximity brought a wave of his scent to my nose and I felt my face falter. I tried my best to contain it, but it was almost impossible.

"Well, I'd hate to disappoint you, Sexy." He gave me a brilliant smile of pearly white teeth, grabbed the plate off the floor and stood in one smooth motion. With that he turned and walked out of the room, letting the door close behind him with a soft click.

It took me a moment to register that the plate of food was gone.

_That fucking bastard..._

* * *

"So where is she?" Trish asked as Dante took a rather large bite of pizza.

"Upstairs." He said around his mouthful. It had been a long night of watching the doppelgänger sleep. Mostly he'd been thinking about if she was really a doppelgänger or something else. That ' _something else_ ' had numerous possibilities that were endless and frankly, none of them were good. When dawn finally broke over the city, he decided to heat up some left over pizza for her.

He expected her to be nasty, which she was. He expected her to try and goad him, which she did. He even expected her to try and seduce him, if only a little—which she also tried.

What he  _hadn't_  expected was how he felt about all of it; how her voice and her mannerisms seemed to crawl under his skin. It took a lot of effort, more so than he was consciously wanting to acknowledge, that he was turned on...

A lot...

He hadn't even minded that she called him a bastard. He found it kind of cute to see her curse at him. She had bite to her and he was strangely into it.

And that right there hit a number ten on his 'Oh Hell No' meter. He promptly took the pizza, a nice little dig on his end, and got the fuck outta there. He needed air and time to cool down. How she managed to get to him so badly was a mystery. He wasn't dying for company of a sexual nature. Sure he was lonely, but that was an old feeling that came and went.

"Dante..."

Seriously, she was bad news from her large perfect chest...

"Dante?"

To her spankable ass...

"Dante! Earth to Dante!" Trish yelled.

"Huh?" Dante hastily swallowed the bite of pizza and gave her a vague look that had her shaking her head.

"I've been calling your name for a while. What's up?" Trish gave him a level look that was neither demanding nor pushy and Dante shrugged. Maybe he was just having a midlife crisis or something.

"Nothing, I was just thinking maybe I should shake things up a bit and order a supreme pizza next time. Mercy keeps telling me I need to eat more vegetables."

Trish rolled her eyes and sighed, "Uh huh. Anyway, where's the doppelgänger?"

"Like I said, upstairs. I put her in Mercy's old room. Don't worry, I just checked on her. She's still there, pissed off I'm sure." He grinned and took another bite, munching loudly as Trish shook her head again.

"Yeah and I bet you know nothing about that, right?"

Dante have her an innocent look and Trish chuckled, "Well, I tracked her movements back to this."

She pulled out a small piece of metal and tossed it on the desk. Dante immediately recognized it as the piece his brother and Nero had removed from Mercy's heart.

"Seriously? How is that even possible?" Dante said, swallowing his bite quickly and then picking up the piece of metal etched with angelic script.

"I don't know. But she made a body trail from the alley where I found this to a clothing store on sixth. She left one homeless man with a broken neck and two women dead in the store. I'll be honest it was a blood bath in the back room. It looked like she did what Mercy does to demons when she nullifies their energy."

"So...she what? Ate them?" Dante asked, surprised.

"Kind of. Mostly it looked like she gnawed at them for a while. I'm not sure why either. Doppelgängers don't kill their prey like that. Especially prey whose form they take."

Dante made a humming sound in agreement and leaned back in his chair. Tossing the metal back on the desk, he shrugged.

"Well, she's all yours. Good luck, she's got a mouth on her."

Trish smirked and shrugged her shoulder as she turned to slink up the stairs, "That's okay. I'm good at dealing with bitchy women."

Dante laughed, "I bet you are."

She flashed him a wicked smile as she made her way up the stairs and disappeared behind the door. Dante chuckled and took another bite of his pizza.

"Maybe I should learn too." He said softly to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited on 2/22/2018.


	7. Pain

The fucking  _bastard_. I was still pissed off about him taking the plate of food. The _asshole_...

That was a new word, but I liked it.

Yes,  _ASSHOLE_ , was probably eating that entire plate right now. If I ever got out of these stupid, whatever these were around my wrists, I was going to kill him. Slowly. Mercilessly.

I'd been trying to break the metal around my wrists after he left the room for the last thirty minutes. The room I’d woken up in, was completely bare. It was surprisingly clean, not a speck of dust or dirt anywhere, even the windows were spotless. I was thinking about maneuvering up to my feet and breaking out one of the shiny clear windows when the door opened. A tall, slim, blonde woman in a cute, tight red corset and leather pants walked in. Shutting the door behind her, she simply smiled at me.

I recognized her immediately and grinned wickedly, letting my sharp little teeth show.

"Well, if it isn't Lord Mundus's lap dog. How's banishment treating you Trish?"

She stiffened for a moment as I spoke and looked at me squarely for the first time. There were stories of a demon that had a striking resemblance to Sparda's human wife. She had been sent to lure Dante, one of Sparda's sons, into a trap for Lord Mundus. She betrayed her kind and instead helped the half demon spawn. He had banished her, ordering any demon who came across her to kill her on sight.

Interesting that she was still alive.

Trish held still for a long time as she looked me over, taking in my face and bloody clothes before finally smiling at me.

"Well, aren't you a smart one. How's it feel being the mimic of an angel?" Her voice was amused and I growled at her.

"I may be a mimic. But at least I am following my orders."

"Oh?" She said with interest as she smiled bigger. The collar around my neck was starting to heat up and it took everything I had not to wince. Apparently, I was talking too much. Pissed, hungry and irritated I squared my shoulders and gave her the same leveled look she gave me.

"So," she said as she walked in a large circle looking at the bare walls. "Dante tells me that you’re looking for Mercy."

It took me a moment, but I realized that she was referring to the man with the white hair. The bastard who took the plate and shot me in the head. That's why he looked familiar, it was rumored Sparda had two twin boys. Vergil and Dante. I was glad that Trish was behind me and couldn't see my face.

That little  _fucker_...

I was definitely going to kill him now. Not just for the missing plate of food and the head shot either.

The collar was still warm against my skin, a silent reminder that I should choose my words wisely. I decided to shrug a casually, which made the metal around my wrists clink slightly.

"Yes." I said simply.

"Tell me why a doppelgänger was attached to a piece of divine metal."

She walked back around to stand in front of me and I smirked, "Wouldn't you like to know?" I did my best to ignore the doppelgänger dig. But it was hard.

Trish smirked back and crossed her arms over her chest, "Alright, I'll just take a shot in the dark then. I think you were put there by Mundus to make sure Mercy brought the sword back. I think because she didn't, you were released once the metal was removed and now her once burden, is yours."

Well fuck, she was close. It wasn't all of it, but she didn't need to know that. I chuckled and twisted my wrists again, trying to get the metal to give. It was a vain attempt that left my wrists bruised and bleeding more than before.

"Who can say? Maybe if I feel like it I'll tell you." I lied. Out of the corner of my eye, I checked out the window on my right. If I was quick enough, which I was, I should be able to get to my feet and break through the glass in one go. I just needed to keep her distracted.

"Don't play coy. There's only one reason you're here and that's because of Yamato." She said, her voice becoming harder. I shrugged again, using the motion to work the stiffness out of my shoulders. I was slowly shifting my feet to get under myself to make a run for it. The collar around my neck was still warm, and frankly its constant heat was starting to make me panic. Well, make my body panic. I felt like I was trapped for the first time and I didn't like it.

"Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe I just want to watch the Angel bleed in front of her beloved. Maybe I want to bring her back to Lord Mundus in tiny little pieces. Maybe I don't want to be in this body anymore. Or maybe..." I said, trying to keep from panting. The collar was starting to burn and I felt my skin blister up my neck.

"Maybe I just want to be free!" I screamed, pushing up with my feet and dashing towards the window. My movement was slower than I expected, but I still made it to the window before Trish had time to react. I leaped into the window, the glass bursting outward into a thousand little bits of sharp shards. Because my hands were tied behind my back, I fell awkwardly towards the ground. I barely managed to get my body turned enough to land on my feet in time. Cracking the pavement beneath me, I glanced up as I heard Trish yell before sprinting. I stumbled as I held back a scream, the collar flaring white hot. The pain was so intense and so sudden that my vision blurred and I ended up running into the side of a building. I blinked rapidly, trying to see and when I spotted my exit down a long alley I ran for it.

The alley merged into a busy street. Half running, half stumbling into traffic I was almost hit by a car. The driver blared the horn as it barely missed me and I kept running. I needed to get away so I could regroup and get these cuffs off. I needed to find the Angel quickly. The pain increased tenfold as I made it into the next alley. Even though I knew I was gaining ground quickly, I couldn't take the pain anymore.

I collapsed into the dirt ridden alleyway next to a pile of stinking trash. Screaming in agony as my body shook and twisted from the pain.

_Why?!_

Why was it trying to kill me?! I was trying to fulfill my orders! Why?! I just wanted to be free! I wanted to gain power so I could be free! So I could live! Live without this pain!

_Why was there so much pain?_

The metal around my wrists also started to flare and I feared for a moment that my hands would get burned right off at the wrists. However a moment later, a loud click sounded and the cuffs fell away. The moment they were off, the collar stopped as well and I laid on the ground covered in filth trying to learn how to breathe again.

It felt like my skin was peeled away to expose the bone beneath it. Like the collar had been trying to decapitate me. While it still hurt like hell, the pain was suddenly much less. My eyes fluttered as I felt my consciousness fade.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited 2/22/2018.


	8. Blood

Dante had just finished off the last slice of pizza when the sound of breaking glass and Trish yelling his name echoed down the stairs. Checking the clock on the wall Dante chuckled. He was surprised that the doppelgänger had taken so long to make a run for it. The first time Mercy arrived she ran out of the shop so fast, she broke the back door into nothing but bits of wood. 

Standing, Dante grabbed his coat and threw it on. He grabbed his faithful guns and his sword, you know, just in case. Dante was taking his time, he had half a mind to see how far she'd get. If she was anything like Mercy she might go until she reached the edge of the city. On the other hand, if that collar on her neck started to glow again she might make it to the next alley or street if she was lucky. Either way he'd still have to go and find her. A doppelgänger, or whatever she was, running around the city was not a good thing. They were like walking catastrophes.

Trish came down stairs, her heeled boots clicking quickly down the stairs and a irritated look on her face.

"Well, she went out the window." She said matter of factually. Dante smirked as he holstered his guns and shrugged.

"I'm surprised it took her so long."

Trish shook her head as her face softened into a smile, "I see you're taking your sweet time. When Mercy ran away you were out right after her."

Dante shrugged casually as he made his way to the front door. "Mercy's a nice girl. Nice girls get treated _nicely_. Bad girls... Well, you know."

He gave her a cheesy grin and Trish chuckled at his joke. The worst part was he was kind of being honest, bad girls did get punished. Especially if those bad girls were in his bedroom and half naked...

_Anyway_ , while he agreed that the doppelgänger deserved to at least get a slap on the wrist; he did want to run after her. Something about her wasn't sitting right, like though she was bad ass she needed help. He could feel it in his gut. He just didn't really understand it yet, which was curious as it was annoying.

Trish followed Dante and as soon as the door shut behind them, they took off to the back side of the shop. Following the trail of broken glass and blood both came to a stop to take in the sight.

"What the hell?" Trish breathed as she spotted a bloody hand print on the side of a nearby building. It wasn't the hand print that she was looking at though. Dante walked up next to her and looked at the larger black, bloody smear about the size of the doppelgänger's body. It looked like she had hit the wall so hard, blood splatter had actually happened. It reminded Dante of when a bug hit a windshield...

He would have laughed, but... Well, there were just some things you don't laugh about. Creating a demonic bug splatter was one of them.

Kind of...

Oh hell, he didn't know why he wasn't laughing at this. He should have, she was a pain in the ass and he hadn't even been around her that long.

"That's a lot of active blood for a demon that heals as quick as an angel." Dante said seriously. Trish nodded, a frown creasing her features as she looked at the ground. Large, bloody spots trailed down the alley to the next and out into a busy street. The two of them dodged traffic with ease and quickly made it to the other side.

It was the sound of raspy, heavy breathing that caught Dante's attention; even over the heavy traffic. Something about the sound made him feel the need to run to side and make sure she was okay. It was a heart pounding, worried, feeling that made his chest tight. He forced himself to walk though, reminding himself that it was not Mercy that was gasping for air.

Man, this doppelgänger was really starting to make him question his feelings towards his brother's girl. Wouldn't Vergil be excited to know he had a thing for his wife?

Trish followed close behind him as they found her half way down the alley, laying in a pile of rotting garbage and covered in fresh blood. The damage she had endured had her pores oozing blood. Her whole body was drenched her own black demon blood. The only things that were not covered in it, were the cuffs and the collar around her neck. The cuffs in question, where laying by the doppelgänger's feet, undamaged. They simply looked like they were unlocked and fell to the ground. That was...unusual.

Trish picked up the cuffs and put them away somewhere as Dante kneeled next to the collapsed doppelgänger. The silver collar wasn't glowing and there wasn't a speck of blood on it, but her neck..

"Oh my god..." Trish whispered as Dante very carefully touched her cheek to see if she was still alive. It looked like acid had been poured on her skin in a perfect circle where the collar laid. Bits of tissue and bone were visible as her body struggled to try and heal itself. Dante felt his face go steely. _Murdering, bitchy demon or not..._

No one deserved to be treated like this.

She was still alive, her skin slowly healing the damage, but it wasn't with the same quickness he'd seen before. This was a killing wound, but also a punishment. He honestly didn't know how she was still alive after such an attack. Or how her head was still attached...

Being careful not to hurt her, Dante slowly slipped his arms under her limp body and picked her up. She felt small against him as she groaned painfully from the movement. She settled against his chest snugly and without a word, he walked steadily down the alley with Trish following closely behind him.

Dante knew that when he got back to the shop, his brother was going to be pissed when he called him. Vergil and Mercy were going to have to cut their honeymoon short. It was an unusual enough situation that there was only one person who could help, or in this case Angel. They needed Mercy. She was the only one who could probably explain why there was a sorta doppelgänger (or whatever), running around and hell bent on attacking/killing everyone.

Trish and Dante were both silent as they made their way back to the shop. The street was busy but no one questioned the fact that he was carrying a bloody girl in his arms. That was part of the charm of Limbo City, no one gave a damn. Or if they did, they never voiced it. People tended to keep to themselves here, stay out of other people's business. It wasn't exactly 'living' but it was better than getting your head blown off or worse...

As they rounded the corner to the far more empty street where the shop was, Dante's mind was going a mile a minute. This was no ordinary doppelgänger, hell he wasn't even sure she was a full demon. In a lot of ways she was like Mercy and in others she wasn't.

Her fiery red hair was soft and tickled his neck. Faintly he could smell her scent under the dirty and blood. It was almost intoxicating and it took a lot of concentration to not stumble. As they walked, her raspy breathing had slowly gone away and was sounding more normal. A quick glance told him that her neck was looking better, but it wasn't completely healed yet. As they drew closer to the shop Dante hesitated as Kyrie's car came into view.

"What are they doing back?" Trish asked as she spotted the car as well. Vergil and Mercy had borrowed the car from Kyrie for their honeymoon. They weren't supposed to be back for another few weeks yet.

Ah, shit. Maybe Lady ratted them out about the doppelgänger issue. She did seem pretty ticked off about the whole getting her ass kicked thing. In a way this was good because now he didn't have to call them and face his brother's wrath. Now he could claim innocence and get the problem resolved.

A win/win...

Dante stepped carefully as he went up the few steps to the front door. Trish was quick to open it for him.

However, the moment his foot crossed the threshold Mercy appeared in front of him. Her bright blue eyes were wide wide and her white hair was braided in a loose French braid just over her shoulder. The bright neon green hoodie was new, hiding her angelic wings.

"Dante..." Her voice soft, yet serious.

Dante smiled like nothing was wrong, like he wasn't holding a demonic look a like covered in blood in his arms. Mercy slowly frowned at him. It was cute as usual, but the look didn't stir anything like what the doppelgänger in his arms had when she sassed him earlier.

Good to know he wasn't unconsciously into his brother's wife...

"Hey there Mercy! We were just out for a stroll, enjoying the sun shine. You know, sights of the city and all that." His tone was light, casual and by the look on her face she wasn't buying it one bit.

"Dante," she said again, looking at the doppelgänger in his arms with her brow furrowed. "Where did you find my Shadow?"

Dante blinked a few times, "Shadow?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited 3/8/2018.


	9. Comfort

People were talking, but I couldn't really understand the words. Everything hurt, which was a new and strangely, an old feeling. Pain seemed familiar as did loneliness. I'd never really thought about it before, but the darkness was...lonely.

"...all of that aside, how did she get here?" Said a masculine voice that was familiar, but I couldn't place it. It was cold sounding and a bit harsh.

More mindless chatter that sounded like white noise drifted around me and I was vaguely aware that I was being held by strong arms. They were warm and yet gentle. I groaned as whoever it was shifted slightly. My skin felt raw all over, I just wanted the pain to stop.

"...she needs energy..." Another voice said that I recognized, but again couldn't place. Her voice was soft and calm. Almost soothing.

I felt my consciousness fade out and for a while I drifted in the darkness. I wanted to be angry. I wanted to be furious and scream.

I was just too tired.

The next thing I was aware of was the fact that I was laying down. It was soft, warm and smelled masculine. It was a good smell and I tried to take a deeper breath of the scent. Someone was talking again and a moment later I felt two hands caress my face. It was the same large hands that I felt before when the pain from the collar had flared. They were tentative as they felt along my face and I felt my head turn towards one of them, wanting to feel them more.

I'd never really known comfort. Or maybe I should say, that the only comfort I had know was in the shadows. Existing but not at the same time. Being aware of myself, yet not. Now that I had a physical form, the word 'comfort' seemed to be what I wanted the most.

The hands held me still and I sighed softly at the felt of them. Maybe having a physical form like this wasn't so bad? Maybe when I returned to Lord Mundus I could make a physical form for myself?

Something tingled along my skin and I felt the warmth of the hands seem to increase. Energy, calming and gentle, pushed into me and I felt myself reach out to grab a hold of it. I wanted more of it. I wanted to drown in it to the point where I'd never feel the pain I'd felt before again.

I felt myself pull hard and the energy sputtered, a wave of...surprise? Shock? Fear? It was hard to tell what the emotion was, but I didn't care. It didn't matter as long as I didn't have to feel the pain again.

As it was my skin was feeling better. The roughness of my breathing eased, bringing a soft moan from me. It felt good...really good. The relief was deep and I felt the energy pull back a little, stretching away from me. But I held on to it. I wasn't done.

The rush that came from the backwash of energy felt so damn good I just couldn't seem to stop myself. Another pair of hands, these one more delicate, touched my forehead and the other to my chest. Their coolness was a bit of a shock as they pushed their energy into me.

But it wasn't soothing. Or gentle. There was one word, a command and it gave no room for disobedience.

Stop.

I let go of the warm comforting energy and the moment I did, I felt something large and heavy fall almost on top of me. There was a distant groan, followed by a few words I didn't hear.

Which didn't matter because in the next moment, I fell into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

"Ugh..." Dante groaned as he half laid on his bed, half on the doppelgänger or, Shadow? Did it matter what she was? The terms were a mess in his head and he felt wiped out.

Mercy carefully helped him roll over so the mass majority of his weight was on the bed.

"I'm sorry." Mercy said as she adjusted the girl on the bed carefully and covering her with a blanket.

"Nah," Dante said breathily, "that was better than sex." He gave her a goofy smile and Mercy chuckled softly.

"It's better when you swap energy during sex. It takes practice though and a clear understanding of the other person's limits."

Her tone was matter of fact and Dante ended up staring at her on disbelief.

"Damn, you mean...?"

Mercy gave him a knowing smile and Dante laughed.

"Wow." His brother was one lucky son of a bitch...

Mercy chuckled again and sat down next to the girl on his bed. They had decided after a quick conversation that she needed rest, energy to heal and a shower. So far they had accomplished two out of the three, the shower would be harder. But that could wait. Right now, he needed to sleep and he didn't care if the woman in his bed smelled like a trash heap.

He'd already decided that he was going to cuddle with her feet if he didn't have the strength to move. The rush of energy that carried her emotions to him as he gave her his energy was intense and damn if she didn't almost drain him dry. It was like once she had a taste, her energy craved him like a drug.

Which both turned him on and made him wonder yet again about his brother's sex life.

Wait, was that weird? Yep, that was fucking weird.

"She'll sleep now. I'm glad that she is okay." Mercy said quietly, looking over the girls identical face. It was odd, they looked the same but there were differences too. Much like him and his brother.

"She killed people Mercy. A homeless man and two women in a clothing store." Dante explained, watching her face.

Mercy frowned and sighed, "That is sad, and she will be punished for it. Life is a blessing...in all its forms." She moved a piece of the woman's red hair out of her eyes and smiled at Dante.

"You helped her before."

Dante gave her an innocent look and she chuckled, "Don't lie. You did this before with her. Her energy recognized you."

"That collar thing was causing her pain, like your harness did. I was trying to help her... She uh... Begged." Dante said, closing his eyes, fuck he felt tired.

"Begged?" Mercy asked as he nodded.

"Yeah..."

Mercy made a soft humming noise and slowly stood up from the bed, "I'm going to talk to Trish and Lady. Get some sleep."

Dante have her a thumbs up, eyes still closed. He didn't even care that he still had his clothes on, normally he slept nude.

"You got it chief."


	10. Split

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for continuing to read, comment and all that jazz. ^_^ I hope this next chapter is as fun to read as it was to write.
> 
> Also, don't forget to check out my 'Special Requests' work I've got going if you'd like me to write something for you! Check it out for details! I'm curious to how many I can do in a year.
> 
> Thanks again, you guys are fantastic!

Lady, Trish, Vergil and Mercy were gathered in the office down stairs. Lady had come over after Trish had called her and she looked a little rough. Mercy looked over her friend and determined that she would be fine, but it would take a while. Lady was still pretty angry and Vergil wasn't much better.

"Okay, we checked on everyone. Dante's an idiot still, Trish is still dressed in tight clothing and Lady is still a thorn. Can we go now?" His tone was harsh as he spoke, borderline whiny. Mercy gave him a carefully raised eye brow and he huffed softly, falling to silence. She smiled at him when he wasn't looking and Trish winked at her, causing her to blush slightly.

"Trish." She said gently before turning her attention to Lady, who was sitting in Dante's chair at his desk. She had a few bruises that were visible on her arms. She'd decided to wear a casual shirt and jeans instead of her usual sexy business attire. It was a testament to how crappy she was feeling.

"Lady, can you please explain to me what happened?" Mercy asked her friend. Lady sighed and rolled her eyes.

"She showed up last night, kicked the damn door in and proceeded to shoot at me. She called your name Mercy. She said she was going to take you home. Whatever the hell that means."

Mercy frowned, her face deep in thought as Trish spoke.

"Lady managed to get her out of the apartment without anyone getting hurt, but it was a little too close for comfort. We aren't even sure how she found the apartment in the first place. But I tracked her path back to this."

Trish pulled out the small piece of divine metal and handed it to Mercy. She looked closely at it and frowned a little harder. Vergil was watching her closely, but was still silent. After a moment, Mercy nodded like she came to some kind of conclusion and looked at Trish.

"Dante said she killed three people."

"Yes. It looked like she gnawed on two women. It was a blood bath in the back room of that clothing store. She didn't do it to the homeless man though. Just broke his neck."

Mercy nodded and sighed, "Energy transference. She is my Shadow after all."

"You said that before, why?" Trish asked, the room falling silent for a moment.

Vergil and Mercy shared a look before she looked at Trish sadly, "Becuase..." Mercy frowned suddenly and sighed, "Because when I forced myself to forget Vergil, Nero and the Wars, I didn't just force myself to lock the memories away. I took all my anger, my hate, the darkness that was steadily growing inside myself... I took all that negative energy and forced it out of myself at the same time."

Everyone was staring at Mercy and she offered up a soft smile, "She's the part of me who became lost in the darkness. In order to save a part of myself, I banished my other half. I never thought that it would become a physical being. She's me. But she's not."

The explanation weighed heavily in the air and Lady snorted suddenly, "Hold up." She said, leaning forward in the oversized chair.

"So she's not a doppelgänger? She's the demon part of yourself? Like what? The other half of your soul or something?" Her tone was filled with disbelief.

"Yes. Though...I believe she is not in a physical form by choice. I believe that Trish is correct. Mundus forced her to take that form in order to bring me back to Hell, as well as Yamato. He must have found her some way and used this as a fail safe." Mercy held up the small piece of divine metal before placing it in her pocket.

"What about the thing around her neck? I mean...that must be Mundus's design." Trish asked, deep in thought. Mercy nodded in response.

"It is the mark of a slave. A collar. You served Mundus as a solider, a pawn. Slaves have no such authority or purpose. They are given orders and must follow them until they are either killed or have served their purpose."

"So we kill her." Vergil said suddenly, which had all three women looking at him. Mercy smiled kindly at him and shook her head.

"No. While she does need to be punished for murdering innocent humans, death is not the answer. She is alive and a part of me. We should allow her the chance to choose."

Lady huffed and crossed her arms, "For once, I'm in agreement with Vergil. She's a psycho bitch that needs to be put down."

Mercy chuckled, "The only other option is for me to absorb her back into myself. I don't know what the out come of that would be though."

Trish, Lady and Vergil shared a look and this time it was Trish who sighed, "So we can't kill her and we don't want you to become a full blown bitchy demon. I guess we have no choice."

"There is a problem though." Mercy said as she looked towards the upstairs, "I wasn't able to see the angelic script on the collar, but I believe it's keeping her in her current form. If we remove it, she may become a Shadow again. Unable to act with the physical world."

"How's that a problem?" Vergil questioned, his tone hadn't improved through the duration of the conversation and Mercy smiled at him regardless.

"Because your brother likes her..."

* * *

I was warm and wrapped up in a soft blanket that made me want to sleep longer.

The problem was, something was holding my legs snugly and it was growing uncomfortable. I tried to roll over, but whatever it was held on tighter. I was growing irritated and finally kicked whatever it was to get it off me.

"Ow!"

Startled, I bolted up right in the bed and looked down at the heavy thing that had been wrapped around my legs. The man with white hair, Dante, looked at me with an irritated groggy look.

"Jesus, do you have to wiggle around so much? People are trying to sleep."

"Get. Off. Of. Me." I growled, yanking the blanket that was wrapped around my legs as well with his arms over it.

He had the nerve to give me a sly smile, "You going to make me, Sexy?"

Growling, I yanked on the blanket harder and instead of him letting go, he gripped the blanket and I ended up pulling him up with it till he was close enough to wrap his arms around my waist. His arms were strong and held me quick with his head tilted up to look at me. It was...awkward and my body seemed to heat up from the close proximity. What the hell is with this body?!

Before I could punch him in the face, the bedroom door opened and we both looked towards it. There, not more than a few feet away from me was the Angel, Mercy. And as luck would have it, Vergil was next to her with his sword tied to his waist. I would have been on them and ripping them both to tiny little pieces...

The problem was...I was becoming horribly distracted by the man wrapped around my middle.

The two looked us over, the Angel smiling and her beloved looking a bit startled.

"Hey bro, what's up?" Dante said casually as he grinned broadly.

Vergil was having a difficult time getting his face back to the cold mask I remembered and I growled.

"Get. The. Fuck. Off. Of. Me!" I yelled, trying to push his arms down. Dante's laughter filled the room as he held tighter.

"But you're so warm! And comfy! You're like my own personal body pillow!"

"I'm going to kill you!" I yelled again, louder.

"Okay, but let me just cuddle a bit more. You took a lot outta me Sexy." He looked up at me and winked, a large grin on his face that made my face feel hot.

"You're the first woman to ever get the best of me in bed." He continued and a snort of feminine laughter brought my attention back to the Angel. Both of them were still standing in the door way, she was laughing and her beloved Vergil was smiling.

Irritated, pissed off and...embarrassed, a new word to me. I clenched my fist, cocked it and punched Dante as hard as I could in the face.

 _Bastard_...


	11. Alice

"You know, punching a man in the face for teasing you isn't good etiquette." Mercy said, there was a touch of humor in her voice as she waited in the bathroom while I showered. The shower was hot and helped to scrub off the last twenty four hours of soot, grime, blood and filth that I had ended up covered it. I was grateful for the shower, but I'd be damned if I let that goodie two shoes Angel know that.

"Who cares?" I snapped back as I scrubbed my hair. After punching him in the face and crushing his nose in a satisfying crunch, I was _informed_ that I needed to shower by the Angel. It didn't take much convincing for me to leave the room. I was still pissed off and embarrassed...

I didn't even know I could get embarrassed.

"Things work differently here in the Human world than in Hell." Mercy's voice barely audible over the running water.

I rinsed my hair and the my body off, which had absolutely no scar or blemish on it after sucking down Dante's energy. As I assumed it was his when he referred to 'taking a lot out of him'. The bastard...gah, he was so irritating with his happy laugh and broad, playful smile.

Shutting off the water, I pulled back the shower curtain and stepped out. The Angel handed me a towel and I took it. Quickly drying my hair and body, then tossing it on the pile of nasty, blood saturated clothes I had worn yesterday. There was no way in hell I was putting those back on.

"Here." The Angel said as she held out a small bundle of clothes. "It's not much, but it will cover you. Humans don't like nudity very much unless it's in the bedroom."

I rolled my eyes at her as I took the bundle, "I'm not stupid.mi realized that after taking this form."

The small bundle of clothes had a pair of jeans, underwear, a bra and a tank top that was red. Jesus, it was so simple it practically hurt my eyes. Ignoring her, I pulled the clothes on and once everything was situated, I took a look in the mirror. The Angel stood just behind me, looking over my shoulder at my reflection. For a moment, I couldn't tell which one of us was which. It was an eerie feeling that I pushed down, huffing instead as I shook my short hair to let it settle and dry how it wanted.

Turning, I leaned up against the sink and crossed my arms, we might have had the same face, but her white hair and blue eyes made her look soft, delicate.

"So, how do you want to do this? We can walk out of here with the sword, I'm sure your beloved would give it to you. Then I can hand you back over to Lord Mundus and claim my reward. Or we could do it the hard way and you leave here in a bag and all your friends dead. I'm feeling generous after the shower, so I'll let you pick." I said flippantly. I knew that she wouldn't go without a fight, honestly I was just trying to enjoy five minutes of being clean and not smelling like and trash heap.

The Angel looked at me for a long moment. She was completely still and if it wasn't for the soft sounds of her breathing I would have thought she was a statue. She suddenly smiled, rather...kindly at me and chuckled.

"How about a third option?"

"And what would that be?" I said, raising and eye brow.

* * *

"What the fuck are you doing? Get off of me!" I screamed as the stupid Angel gripped the cuffs on my wrists and jerked me forward towards the stairs. The damn notch cuffed me when my guard was down and suddenly my hands were behind my back again and she was walking me down the stairs. I struggled, but not much. My body may have felt great, but my mind was a bit hazy. I really needed more sleep.

Once we were down stairs, there was a small group of people waiting for us. The Angel's beloved Vergil, who looked cold and irritated. Dante, who was currently nursing his broke nose. I have him and wicked smirk and he wiggled his eye brows at me in return. This fucking guy! The woman with bi eyes was leaning against the desk Dante was sitting at, and looking pissed off and defeated. Trish was laid out on the couch like a cat who was full on cream and winked at me. I growled at her.

"My Shadow, you have killed three innocent people and are currently a slave of Mundus, the Demonic God and current ruler of Hell." The Angel spoke formerly, like it was some kind of ceremony and I snorted.

"You know, I should really just kill you now."

She ignored my words and instead came around to stand in front of me while the others looked on.

"You are the darkness I castes out of myself when all hope was lost. You are the part of my soul I couldn't live with."

"Ha! Fat chance. I was born of the shadows long before you were tossed in that dungeon."

"Yes. I first felt the darkness consuming my soul at the beginning of the second Angelic War. Tell me, what is your earliest memory?" Her voice was level and non threatening. The others were watching and listening carefully.

"Does it matter?" No it didn't, it didn't matter what my first memory was and she was a lying, stupid, almighty pain main my ass,

"Yes. What was your first memory? Or perhaps we shall skip the explanations and go right to your punishment doppelgänger slave?"

I stiffened at her last words, I didn't know why but they stung deep. She hadn't even said them harshly and that pissed me off the most.

Gritting my teeth I forced myself to speak, "Blood."

"Explain." She promoted.

"My first memory was of blood. Rivers of blood and ash. I remember liking the feel of it in my mouth and on my claws. I remember I wanted more. Always more because there just never seemed enough." I was angry and I spat the words out as the eyes of everyone shifted between the two of us.

"What was your second memory?"

"Flying." I said instantly. "I was flying so high, the wind in my face it was...peaceful." My voice slowly became softer as I spoke.

Why would I remember flying? I never had wings...

The Angel smiled at me and placed a hand on my shoulder, "You are the dark half of me. And as such I'm willing to give you once chance for redemption. I can remove the slave collar around your neck and give you freedom. However you must restore the balance of life that you have broken first. Three deaths have been laid at your feet. Now you must save three lives. If you can do that, you will be free to leave and live wherever you choose." Her voice had taken on a small lit to it and I snorted.

"How can you remove the collar of a slave you don't own." I growled and she smiled bigger, showing perfect white teeth.

"Oh it won't be me, you already belong to someone else."

I rolled my eyes, "Fucking hell, are all angels bat shit crazy like you?"

The woman with bi eyes tensed looking like any moment she was going to shoot me, but she helped back.

"When you've lived through that much pain and torture, you earn the right to be a bit 'crazy'."

"So what? You're going to toss me back I through the Hell Gate?"

"Nope." She looked over her shoulder and motioned to Dante, who stood and walked over to where we were standing. His nose was already almost healed. Pity.

"Dante, because you have transferred energy to her twice of your own free will and she has taken of her own free will you will be her new Master until she rights the wrongs she had done." Her words sounded final and I stared wide eyed with my mouth hanging open.

"I agree." He said, winking at me and I couldn't decide if it was a sexy wink or if I should break his nose again.

Mercy drew a long, sharp knife and faster than I could react scratched something on the outside of the collar. The metal heated up for a moment and I panicked that it would cause pain again, but it didn't. Faintly the metal glowed as Mercy took Dante's hand and pricked his finger. Bright red blood oozed out and she smeared it over whatever she wrote on the collar. The heat died instantly with the faint smell of ozone in the air and I wrinkled my nose from the smell.

"So it is done." Mercy grinned. "We should pick a name for you."

The woman with bi eyes snorted loudly, "She said her name was Malice before, maybe we could call her Bitch." Trish chuckled, but Mercy shook her head.

I was getting pissed off again, "I said that because it was funny damnit!" I yelled.

Dante rubbed the scruff on his chin in thought and then snapped his fingers loudly.

"Alice."

"Alice?" Said everyone, including myself.

"Sure, sounds prettier than Malice. Besides, Alice of Malice has a nice ring to it. Might scare a few demons." He grinned and pulled me close, slipping one arm around my waist. I gave him my best death glare, but he merely chuckled.

"This is going to be fun." He pulled me closer until I was pressed up against him and I growled,

"Oh yeah, this is going to be a bucket of laughs." I said through clenched teeth.


	12. Plans

Dante wasn't sure what he expected after he was dubbed 'master' to half of Mercy's soul...Shadow...whatever. The terminology was becoming a pain in the ass.

Much like their newest live in had become a pain in the ass.

She was quick to temper. Never, ever letting anyone get the last word. She'd pissed off Lady so bad that she hadn't been by in two weeks. A mixed blessing. He was loving the fact that she wasn't around to bust his balls, but at the same time he was getting tired of dealing with Alice.

Though she had managed to irritate his brother to near blood shed—amusing as all hell to watch his face struggle with wanting to kill the other half of his wife. The small little moments of humor were wearing thin though. All the playfulness he had wasn't enough to keep him from getting irritated.

Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly, the only person she was semi nice to was Mercy. Though that raised a few questions too. Whenever Alice pushed too hard or there was about to be bodies on the floor, Mercy blew in like a breeze and got everyone calmed down. He wasn't sure if it was energy trans—whatever, but Alice seemed a bit more subdued afterwards.

How the hell was he supposed to help this half of Mercy when the other half was better at it?

Okay, maybe that was a little whiny.

And really fucking confusing...

Ugh...

"Dante?" Mercy's voice broke through the jumbled mess of his thoughts. He'd been sitting at his desk with his feet propped up and his eyes closed, trying to fake being asleep. Alice was currently sparing with Vergil upstairs, a dangerous routine they had developed per Mercy's insistence so she could get used to being in a physical form. He'd never admit it out loud, but the one time he watched them it ended up irritating him so bad he left. He wasn't really sure why it got to him so badly either.

"Dante, I know you are not asleep." Mercy chuckled.

Opening one eye, he glanced at her as she stood on the other side of the desk. She was wearing a nice flowered tank top today, letting her wings out in all their white feathered glory.

"What's up Mercy?" He said as he closed his eye again and shifted a little to a more comfortable position in his chair.

"You seem to be upset."

"Nope."

The lie was evident and it made her snort lightly. He knew without looking at her that her cute little face would be all scrunched up, making her nose wrinkle. He didn't know if Alice could be that cute, but if he ever did see that look on her face it'd probably make his heart pound.

"Alright." She said softly, "I'll phrase it another way."

Dante kept still, trying to keep up the guise of being asleep though it was pointless.

"You are upset because Alice is ignoring you and you like her. You are angry and don't know why. You think I made a mistake binding her to you. And you're pretty sure I'm reading your mind right now." Her voice was filled with humor as Dante had opened his eyes to stare at her.

"Hey now, I thought you could only feel emotions?"

She shrugged and smiled, "Yes, but emotions carry thoughts sometimes too. It takes practice, but I'm getting better at it."

"Yeah well, I'm happy for you." He said, closing his eyes again. Now he was even more irritated.

"Dante, I didn't make a mistake. Alice knows only the darkest parts of my memories. She doesn't understand concepts such as love, kindness and compassion. You do. You have to show her and help her. I know you like her and question why. But perhaps you'll figure it out if you look a little deeper. And maybe give her a taste of her own medicine."

Dante snorted, "Right. You make it sound easy." He gave her sarcastic look and she chuckled.

"She may be part of me, but as she grows and learns she will become her own person. We must help her find out who she is."

"Yeah, okay." He said, sighing and feeling tired. Mercy always had a way with gently prodding without pushing. It was probably why she and Vergil ended up together.

A loud bang sounded upstairs followed by yelling.

" _You are the most undisciplined woman I've ever met. It's no wonder she forced you out!_ " Vergil voice was angry and was quickly followed by Alice's sultry and sarcastic voice.

" _Say what you want but you're just saying that because you've grown soft since you were tossed out of Hell. The Angel has made you into the same weak shell of yourself that she is!_ "

" _If you speak about her one more time—_ "

" _What? You gonna spank me like a bad girl to teach me a lesson?"_

" _Gahhhh_!"

Another loud bang sounded as a door slammed, followed by Alice's laughter. A few minutes later the sound of the shower turning on filtered through the door.

Mercy and Dante looked from the door to each other, both a little wide eyed. Mercy recovered first and smiled.

"Well, looks like it's your turn."

"Geeze, thanks." He said, a soft smile on his lips as he stood.

"Good luck."

* * *

The water from the shower was hot and it helped to loosen some of the tightness out of my muscles. I might be going along with the Angel's deal, but really I was trying to get them used to me enough so I could get the sword. Unfortunately, in the last couple of weeks I wasn't able to get a chance. It was constantly on Vergil at all times. The only time it wasn't was when we sparred on the third floor. I wasn't able to slip away to go look for it and the one time I had managed to get down the stairs first, Mercy was waiting for me.

I had done my best to keep these people irritated and angry so they'd slip up and make a mistake, but so far my efforts were in vain. I couldn't even leave my room at night because both Dante and Vergil had expert hearing. It was annoying and most nights I laid in bed awake and waiting for my collar to burn me again.

So far it hadn't...

I scrubbed off the sweat that was stuck to my body. If nothing else, sparring with Vergil was allowing me a chance to learn his moves so when I did finally go for the sword, I'd know how to beat him.

Rinsing the soap out of my hair and off my body, I turned off the shower and stepped out. The bathroom was filled with steam and though it was a little suffocating, it felt good. Grabbing a towel, I wiped the mirror of the fog and looked at myself. I hated to admit it, but I felt tired. I'd never been tired before I had a physical form and now I found that I was almost always tired.

Did everyone always feel so tired?

There was a light knock on the door, " _Hey, can I come in?_ " Dante's voice filtered through the door and I rolled my eyes. Why the Angel bound me to such a slacker was clearly evidence of her stupidity. Mostly I stayed away from him. Whenever he was too close it seemed to make me hyper aware of myself.

Which was a huge distraction.

"No." I said as I wrapped the fluffy towel around myself and grabbed another to dry my short red hair.

The handle to the bathroom door turned and a moment later he entered, letting the steam escape before shutting it behind him again. The bathroom was small and his tall body took up a lot of room. I felt too tired to yell at him so I glared at him instead.

"I said, no."

"My bad, I thought you said yes. Lots of girls say no when they really mean yes you know. Besides, it's hard to talk through a door."

I rolled my eyes and tossed my towel on the floor next to the clothes the Angel let me borrow. Honestly, her wardrobe was so damn plain.

"Whatever. I'm not in the mood to talk."

I went to move passed him, but he blocked my path and I glared at him.

"Move."

"Now, now. No need to get hostile. I just wanted to talk for a moment." He had his partially gloved hands up in surrender and I crossed my arms over my chest.

"No. I don't want to talk. I'm tired, irritated and frankly your presence annoys me." I growled at him.

Dante watched me for a moment before a smirk settled on his face, it looked mischievous and I suddenly felt...small. Meek even... He took a step forward, causing me to step back involuntarily. Blinking at him, he took another step causing me to back up more until I started to feel trapped.

My instincts said to punch him but this stupid body of mine wouldn't listen to me and instead I felt my back hit the bathroom wall. He placed his hand on the wall just above my head as he looked over me and I glared harder. I hated to admit it but my heart was racing.

He smelled good. A masculine smell that was mixed with leather and gun powder and damned if I didn't take a deeper breath to take in more of his scent. The humidity in the air seemed to make it heavier and I clutched my towel around me tighter.

"What do you—" I whispered.

"Shhh." He said as his other hand came up and held my chin with his hand. My skin felt like it was suddenly on fire, but in a way that didn't hurt. More like a deep ache in the pit of my stomach.

He leaned down until his lips were hovering over mine and I suddenly couldn't breathe. Is he going to kiss me?!

Suddenly he pulled back, allowing me to breathe again somewhat shakily. His face was filled with humor and his blue eyes were sparkling as he grinned.

"Gotcha."

 


	13. Thirsty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, sorry about the wait, the entire house came down with the flu! I'm telling you, it's been years since I've been sick like that and I even got a flu shot this year.
> 
> Word to the wise, green tea and lemon with a Day Quil is the only way to go. Ugh...
> 
> Anyway, let's get the ball rolling again shall we?

"Why am I stuck with you again?"

"Because no one else wants to put up with your shit. Now shut it and keep an eye out."

"Fuck you Trish."

"Sorry, I'm already taken." She said in a sultry voice that pissed me off.

Somehow, I'd been forced to go with her on some kind of demon hunt. Okay, maybe that wasn't _completely_ accurate. It was nice to get out and actually do something other than get my ass handed to me by Vergil and have Dante do...whatever the hell he was trying to do. The bathroom episode had confused me, embarrassed me and I didn't like it.

 _Okay_...

That wasn't completely accurate either.

I had liked it. A lot more than I thought I would have to have his attention solely on me. The knowledge from the two dead women that I'd absorbed had given a little insight, but I was still confused. Like why the phrase 'getting into my pants' kept popping up in my head. Or why the feel of his his fingers on my chin had made my body ache in lower parts of myself.

Specifically my groin...

Ugh...

I knew what sex was. I'd watched or...maybe it was remembered Mercy and Vergil wrapped in a tight embrace. But I didn't ever remembering feeling this way...ever.

"I'm going to check upstairs. You clear the ground level. I'll meet you back at the top of the stairs." Trish spoke interrupting my thoughts.

"Yeah, yeah." I responded sarcastically.

So now, here I was walking around a creepy, empty town. In a creepy, empty mansion looking for a powerful demon that supposedly was eating little humans called 'children'.

I'd done more boring things on a Tuesday since coming to the Human world. This was still boring, but at least I wasn't stuck in the same building with Dante. I was still surprised my collar hadn't hurt me again yet, I wanted to believe that it would never do it again...

But I knew better. Lord Mundus never gives up so easily.

Trish had disappeared upstairs while I walked around and checked the lower rooms. The mansion was dirty, old and had been empty for a long time by the looks of it. Since we had entered the town, we'd only run into a handful of demons. Trish wouldn't let me fight any of them, hell I wasn't even given a weapon.

Which was bullshit.

The dead women had an extensive knowledge of curses and clothing choices. Of which I was finding very useful. Unfortunately, despite my bitching, I was still wearing borrowed clothes from Mercy. Today's dress attire was jeans and a sweater. A very baggy ass sweater with a hood that was an ugly yellow. Seriously, why did she wear shit like this? The response I got when I asked was 'because it's comfortable'. Such a plain Jane.

My wandering a through the lower half of the house had me coming up with nothing. No demons here. God this was pointless. As I left the rather expansive dinning room that was covered with white cloths and about two inches of dust, I re-entered the main entrance and looked around.

It was eerily quiet. I didn't expect the silence to bother me so much, but it did. I carefully walked up the stairs to stand at the top of them. There was something that kept pulling at the back of my mind. Like I was aware of my surroundings and yet, whenever I tried to focus on the feeling it seemed out of reach. Well whatever, this body felt things all the time that were useless.

I waited for what seemed like forever, with no sign of Trish. Damnit, did she leave me here while she was having all the fun? On the other hand I wouldn't put it passed the banished bitch to leave me here to walk back to Devil May Cry.

Irritated and annoyed, I trudged on in the direction that Trish took. The upstairs consisted of a lot of vacant rooms with furniture covered in more white cloths. The weird feeling was becoming persistent and I found that I was walking slower. It was still silent as I walked and it wasn't until I left one of the bedrooms that I spotted a small child at the end of the long hallway.

I watched the small human for a moment, it wasn't moving at all. Just standing with its back towards me and wear some kind of gown. It's bare feet were dirty, but the rest of it seemed unharmed and clean.

"Hey." I called out to it.

The child didn't move. I tried to figure out if it was a boy or girl, but its hair was in that semi long length that made it difficult without seeing its face. Irritated more because I knew it heard me, I started walking towards it as I called to it again.

"Hey you! It's rude to not look at someone when they are talking to you."

I was maybe halfway away from it when it slowly turned to look at me. It's features still didn't give a clue to its gender but that didn't matter anymore. It grinned at me, solid black eyes soulless as it watched me.

"Well shit..."

The child, or demon as it were, fully turned to face me then. Now that I could clearly see it, I knew that I was in deep, deep shit.

Crap, if Trish died before I got my hands on Yamato I'd never get them to trust me. I'd have to face this head on and find Trish in the process. Though, I had a pretty good idea where she was.

Deciding to play it cool, I grinned back letting my sharp little teeth show.

"I can't remember the last time I saw a Dark Mother. Nice to see that you still have enough power to take on the guise of children."

My voice was level and casual, the demon still grinning away and not moving. Dark Mothers were basically demons who wanted a child of their own. But due to their viscous and nasty natures, they tended to kill their children before they grew into adulthood. So since they couldn't keep their children alive, they went after human children to fill the void. In this case...eating them. Sometimes by the thousands. The human adults would be killed out right, caught off guard by the demon taking on the appearance of a small child. This town was smart when they evacuated before they were all killed. Only the children were gone, no one knew if they were alive or dead.

The only time they showed their true selves was in front of children. They were hard to kill and known for their ability to use your deepest wish against you. The fact that it still looked like a child (kind of) was actually a good thing. Maybe I didn't have a deepest wish. Ha, that sounded about right.

"Come on, I haven't got all night. Cough up the children and the banished bitch so I can get out of here."

I took a moment to adjust the oversized hoodie because I just knew the fight was coming, but between the silence and the non movement of the Dark Mother had me feeling edgy. When and if I managed to get us out of this I was going to slap someone.

The demon tilted its head ever so slightly as it grinned wider. Finally, it took a breath and spoke.

"Angel... Dark Angel..." It's voice was a soft hiss and sounded rough like it hadn't talked in years. I snorted and rolled my eyes.

"I'm not an angel. I'm the rejected bits of one shoved into this form by Lord Mundus."

It took a jerky step forward, a series of clicks sounding from its mouth as its head jerked to the other side.

"Shadow..."

"Jesus, does it matter?"

Maybe it was because I was feeling panicky, another useless feeling that this body was determined to have. Or maybe it was because the demon was looking less like a child and more like a certain white hairs half demon bastard. But I was getting a little mouthy, which wasn't smart.

"I want...you." It's voice shifted becoming more masculine and a dead match for Dante's voice. If it was a touch playful it would have made me hesitate, but as it was that growing feeling in the back of my head seemed to peek.

My vision seemed to shift and faintly I felt the collar around my neck heat up, but not painfully. Though the Dark Mother had fully taken on the appearance of Dante, it's eyes were still soulless and a dark shimmer of energy seemed to hover over its body. I felt drawn to it, like I had with the dead women in the clothing store.

Suddenly I was so thirsty...

So...

So...

Thirsty....


	14. Maternal

It felt like my body was humming, driving me to go against the flight response my body was screaming at me. The black energy swirling in sickening tendrils around the Dark Mother was far more potent than the two women I had drained in the clothing store. I could practically taste it in the air and as I suddenly found myself lunging at the demon, inches away from its face, I laughed.

The red haze that had drowned out my vision mad everything appear murky and clear at the same time. The demon was caught off guard, but only for the moment before its hands gripped my shoulders and threw me through a nearby wall.

Debris, plaster and dust exploded with a loud boom and in seconds I was standing.

"Oh come on, you can do better than that." I taunted it. A series of loud clicking sounds drifted through the dark hallway and into the room as it stepped through. The Dark Mother smirked at me, a classic look that Dante always had when he was being mischievous and it made me pause.

Nope, that is not Dante. It's just a mask. Gotta remember that.

"You...Shadow... I will eat you... Your power will be...mine." It's voice was deep like Dante's but still held no playful lightness to it and I laughed.

"Well give it your best shot, witch bitch."

It frowned suddenly, it's mouth slightly open as another series of clicks sounded from it.

"You are not...afraid."

It wasn't a question and I smiled sweetly, "Nope."

More clicking as it started to circle me and I made sure to move with it. I might not be afraid in this moment, but I knew better than to let it get behind me. After all I wasn't _that_ stupid.

As it walked, it slowly shifted from looking like Dante and slowly became Mercy. I snorted.

"My deepest wish is not to be like her. Try again."

"No... But you wish to be free... She can grant you your...freedom. The man simply is a desire..."

"So?" Seriously, conversations with ancient demons who barely spoke in eons was like pulling teeth. I was growing impatient and the thirst that had risen was starting to make my mouth water.

It suddenly stopped directly in front of me. Mercy in her white braided hair, black hooded sweater and jeans smiled softly at me.

"To be free...Shadows must be returned to...their hosts...to become a soul again...."

I stared at it for a moment. Was this deal just some ploy to get her soul put back together? I mean, if it was bravo to her. I didn't think she had it in her to be so deceitful. Oh the other hand, I wanted to be free of my chains. I wanted to live how I chose. Not how others wanted me to.

Something was making a growling noise and it took me a moment to realize it was me who was growling. When I finally stopped, the Dark Mother came at me laughing manically as sharp talons morphed from its hands. I tried to get out of the way, but it was no use.

This was really going to hurt.

* * *

Trish groaned as something soft and small was rubbing her back. Blinking, she tried to focus her eyes in the darkness and after a moment she was blinking for a different reason.

Hundreds of children surrounded her, of all different ages. The older ones seeing to the infants while others watched her and rubbed her back.

"What...?" She said before a young boy clamped his hand over her mouth.

"Shhh..." He whispered, slowly he took his hand away and pointed up towards the ceiling. It was mostly quiet, except for a few softly mewling babies and some sobs from the slightly older children.

A loud boom sounded directly over head that had dust raining down on all of them. Some cried harder, but still quietly and others let out startled noises that were quickly shushed.

Slowly, Trish sat up rubbing her head. She didn't remember much other than a pair of black soulless eyes. The young boy from before wiped her head with a small cloth and whispered to her as another loud boom rattled the ceiling above them.

"You must be quiet miss. She'll kill you if you're too loud."

His voice was calm, but dried dirty tear tracks lined his cheeks.

"What is that noise?" Trish whispered quietly. Her head felt foggy like she'd taken a pretty big blow to her head, but it was too dark to tell if she was bleeding.

"I don't know. It started about an hour ago. I think maybe...she is angry."

Trish frowned as she looked over the large group of children. "How many are gone?"

The boy understood what she meant and looked over the children as well, "I don't know. Maybe ten or so. She said she was trying to savor us..." His voice hiccuped a little at the end and Trish wasn't able to stop herself from hugging him gently.

"It's alright. You're safe now. We've come to get you out."

"We?" He said softly.

"Yes. Me and my...friend. It's a long story. Do you know how to get out of here?"

The young boy frowned and shook his head, "We can't leave, every time we try she appears and takes one of us..."

Another loud boom sounded over head, this one louder than the previous ones. It sounded close and many of the children started to cry uncontrollably. Trish was already trying to get her brain to focus through the fog as she stood to get a better look at her surroundings.

A loud shrill scream, demonic and filled with pain seemed to fill the room. The air felt heavier and darker. The ominous energy seeming to press down on them and Trish gritted her teeth against the invisible strain. She scream suddenly peeked and then stopped.

A deathly silence filled the dark room, as all the children looked above them in silent horror.

* * *

Oh god...

It felt so good...

The Dark Mother's energy seeped into my body as I gnawed at her neck. Her body shifted from form to form as I held her tightly in my clawed hands. I didn't even know I had them, but that didn't matter.

All that mattered was the dark energy seeping into my body, filling me with its dark secrets. I'd caught her by pure dumb luck by kicking her in the face. I won't lie, kicking the shit out of Mercy's face felt pretty damn good.

The Dark Mother's body shifted through Mercy, Dante, the child, and a bunch of others that I didn't recognize until finally I felt its slipper skin stop its shift. I could feel the frantic rhythm of its heart beat in my mouth and I sliced my sharp teeth deeper trying to feel it more. When the last of its energy faded and it stopped screaming, I dropped it on the floor with a loud thump.

I had taken a lot of damage in the fight. I was covered in my own black sticky blood and part of my insides were still exposed from where her talons had tried to gut me completely. The wounds weren't healing very fast, but it didn't seem to bother me. I couldn't really feel the wounds anyway.

With the energy of the Dark Mother also came her knowledge of where the children and Trish were. It took me a while to get down to the lower hidden level beneath the ground floor because my stupid leg didn't want to corporate. It also didn't help that my vision kept drifting in and out. The collar was still warm around my neck, but I was thankful it hadn't burned me.

After the long walk to the reinforced door, and the very long, irritating process of breaking the lock on it because I couldn't find a key...I was ready for a long shower and some sleep.

The door swung outward and I was suddenly staring a sea of small child faces. All of them looking scared and prepared for the worse. I blinked, not really expecting them to all be at the door like that. Feeling nervous, I tugged on the bloody and ripped sweater a little and gave a small wave.

"Uh, hello. It's okay to come out now."

A small girl at the front of the pack stepped forward and looked up at me. She had big brown eyes and soft blonde hair. She was kind of...cute actually. I felt kind of drawn to her, like I wanted to hug her and tell her everything was going to be okay. I felt...maternal....

After a moment of us staring at each other, the little girl suddenly hugged my legs. Her small body was shaking as she started to sob against me. Startled and not knowing what to do, I kept my arms up so I didn't touch her.

Why was she hugging me? I'd never...received a hug before... It was...nice.

Something inside my brain pushed me to carefully pull her away from my legs and kneel down to hug her. I was confused and a bit bewildered, but the moment the little girl wrapped her arms around my neck I felt all of that drift away.

There was a lot of emotion and energy in that embrace. A swirling mass of relief and a loss of innocence.

It said what words couldn't.

_Thank you._


	15. Damnit

After reuniting the children with their families and letting everyone know it was safe to return to the town, Trish and I slowly made out way back to her car. It was a sharp looking sports model with a lot of speed. It was actually a decent ride, but I was too exhausted to really enjoy it. We had both lapsed into silence as she drove and I was still trying to get my vision to stop fading in and out. So far it was going through intermittent periods of one eye having black blotches and the other being just fuzzy.

Surprisingly, Trish didn't seem to care that I was bleeding on her seat, or maybe she just didn't notice. Not that I cared either, but it seemed a shame to ruin such a beautiful piece of art. My wounds were still trying to heal, and the pain that had been absent before was now coming on in waves.

It took a lot to just sit there normally like nothing was wrong.

"So you killed the Dark Mother?" Trish spoke up, breaking the silence and I nodded.

"Yeah. Sorry I didn't come for you guys sooner. My leg is a bit jacked up." It wasn't like me to apologize for anything...ever. But I did feel a bit guilty after seeing all those children and their frightened faces. Watching them be reunited with their families was pretty heart warming—

What the fuck? Why was I feeling so emotional over this? A wave of nausea followed the sharp emotional drive of wanting to protect those children like they were my own. Di spite the evil nastiness of the Dark Mother, it seemed at her core, she was actually very legit in her want to protect and care for a small child. I could feel the negative energy shifting inside myself, like it was becoming clearer to understand. Like the demon was easier to understand. I felt...kind of sorry for it.

Jesus, this emotional crap was too much.

I rubbed my temples in an attempt to try and focus past the sick feeling that was growing. My fingers trembled slightly and I quickly clenched them to get it to stop.

"I have to say, you surprised me." Trish said again, neither acknowledging my comment or accepting my stupid appology.

I looked at her with a raised brow, "Oh?"

"I thought you'd join forces with her or something stupid. You are after all, closely tied to Mundus still."

I shrugged, "It wasn't in my best interest to keep her alive."

Silence drifted between us again and soon the night lights of Limbo City were visible. My eyes felt heavy and I was having a hard time keeping them open. I knew falling sleep would be bad in my present condition so I bit my tongue hard enough to draw blood. The sting was enough to keep me awake until we finally pulled up in front of Devil May Cry.

"Well, good work I guess." Trish said, a hint of something in her voice that I couldn't tell what it was.

"Yeah, thanks." I said, opening my door and peeling myself out of the car. She still hadn't said anything about the blood yet, but whatever. I shut the door and made my way up the few steps to the door, the sound of Trish's car peeling down the street like lightning.

Fuck I was tired. Maybe the shower could wait until after I slept. I tried to turn the door handle but I couldn't seem to grip it hard enough to do so. My leg was also shaking uncontrollably to the point where standing wasn't really an option anymore.

My vision quickly faded and I groaned as I slid down against the door. Maybe I'd sleep right here....

* * *

Tina giggled against Dante as they walked. He'd gone to Love Planet for a few private dances and ended up having a few after work drinks with Tina. She was buzzed and he could tell by the way she hugged his arm, her breasts rubbing up against him, that he was getting lucky tonight.

His brother and Mercy had gone to the Castle Town of Fortuna to help Kyrie and Nero with the wedding arangements; and as far as he knew Trish and Alice were fine on a job still. He was actually looking forward to working out some sexual frustration, even though he'd have to be careful.

"So everyone is gone?" She giggled as she held onto for support and he made sure to hold her up, getting a nice feel of side boob in the process. Oh yeah, he was going to fuck her all over the shop until he got the image of Alice out of his head—

Damn, there it was again.

Every time he thought about her, even if only in context her face kept popping up in his mind. She was like an addiction in a way and he couldn't figure out why.

"Yeah baby, it's just you and me tonight."

Trying to get his thoughts back in line with the coming activities, he stopped. Tugging Tina to press her body up against him, he kissed her deeply and squeezed her ass. She moaned into the kiss and sucked on his bottom lip, making him groan. Oh yeah, this was better, much better.

Aside from her ass being a little too bony. And her lip gloss was way to thick...and she was blonde instead of a red head...

Damnit...

He really needed to get them back to his shop to drown out this nonsense.

Pulling away, he smirked his best sexy look at her and he just knew her panties were already wet.

"Come on baby, let's get going."

Tina giggled, "Alright."

He made sure that she was supported against him as he picked up the pace. They were only a few blocks away from the shop and in no time he saw the neon sign above the door.

Home sweet—

"Hey, what's that?" Tina said, her words a bit slurred and irritated. Dante frowned slightly as he looked where she was pointing to a black, collapsed mass on his front step. Stepping closer, he realized there was a shinny bloody hand print that was streaked down the door.

It was a very feminine hand print...

"Jesus, whatever it is stinks." Tina wrinkled her nose and Dante let go of her so he could take an even closer look. The once bright yellow hoodie was almost completely black with demon blood and her once vibrant red hair was matted and dirty. He slowly turned her over to get a better look and Dante couldn't stop the hard thud his heart gave.

She looked like a train wreck. Where the hell was Trish? Alice groaned softly as he gently touched her shoulder. There was a big wet blood spot on the front of her hoodie that drew his attention. Making sure that he kept Tina's view a skewed, he lifted up the front of her hoodie to look at her abdomen.

At first, he wasn't sure what he was looking at but slowly it dawned on him that the soft looking, shiny things sticking out from deep gashes, was actually her insides. Carefully, he pulled her hoodie back down and picked her up in his arms. She groaned in pain before settling against his chest.

Tina clicked her tongue beside him, looking at the half dead girl in his arms. "Jesus, what a lost cause, you're not seriously thinking about taking care of her are you?"

Dante had to hold back the anger that flared up and instead smiled playfully, "Yeah, sorry baby. Business calls. Rain check?"

Tina rolled her eyes and slowly stumbled down the stairs and back out into the street. "Whatever."

Dante ignored the ache in his chest as the missed opportunity for some self satisfaction and mind numbness was suddenly gone. Now he was stuck taking care of the girl that was causing him so much inner turmoil. He couldn't not help her though and the way that she fit against his chest, despite her current state was making his body ache more. In the needy way that screamed for release.

He sighed.

"Damnit..."


	16. Energy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt kind of bad for Dante for Tina being such a bitch. So here's a lighter chapter to make it up to him....kinda.

Dante carried Alice up to his room so he could lay her down on his bed and look at her wounds better. She was part Angel, she should be healing faster than this. He briefly ought about how he had finally managed to get his sheets to stop smelling like her and now she was in his bed again.

Hurt...

Wounded...

Again...

Frowning, Dante took off his fingerless gloves and his coat, they were already caked with her drying blood. Not that he was concerned about it. Right now all of his attention was focused on her.

Her skin was extremely pale and she was panting heavily in her sleep. Pulling out his cell phone he dialed Trish and wedged the small device between his chin and shoulder while he strode to the bathroom for the first aid kit. He'd laughed at first when Mercy tucked it away in the bathroom, now he was questioning her fore sight.

The phone was ringing away until it finally clicked with Trish's voice coming over the line.

"Dante, I'm tired. Can't we talk about the job in the morn—"

Dante grabbed the first aid kit with a little more force than he meant too and ended up making a few loud noises as he pulled it out.

"Trish, why did you drop of Alice heavily injured at the shop?"

His voice wasn't accusing, it was down right freezing. Razor sharp and cutting as he spoke. His brother would have probably been proud.

"What—?"

Dante hung up, suddenly extremely pissed off. He tossed the phone somewhere in the bathroom and returned to his room with the kit. He wasn't sure how it was possible, but she seemed more pale than before. A nice sized blood spot was currently staining his bedspread.

"Damnit..." He mumbled as he kneeled down next to the bed and popped open the kit. He grabbed the pair of scissors that where on top and carefully started cutting the hoodie off of her. It was a slow process as he didn't want to her hurt. Finally after a few minutes of cutting he managed to get it open, exposing her upper body.

"Jesus..." He muttered. It looked like her skin had been or at least attempted to be ripped away from her, trying to gut her. The damage was more than what he thought it was outside. How did Trish not notice that she was in such bad shape?

Dante frowned, trying to figure out the best way to help her when her eyes fluttered open. Their gold color was a little dull, but focused on him.

"Hey." He said calmly. She swallowed hard and slowly blinked at him.

"I don't feel...good." Her voice was soft and it reminded him of Mercy in a way.

"Yeah well, your guts are kind of hanging out of your stomach."

Alice smirked at him, just a gentle one, "You sure you didn't cut...my sweater to get in...my pants?"

Dante stared at her wide eyed and then chuckled, "Well, if I wasn't so worried it be a good excuse."

Alice took a heavy breath and let it out slowly, making a thoughtful humming noise. They both grew quiet as they watched each other. Alice seemed to be staring straight into his soul and it was starting to make him feel uncomfortable.

He really needed to treat her wounds, she wasn't healing fast enough. He pulled his eyes away from her pale face and started to busy himself with digging through the first aid kit. As he was doing so, a gentle hand touched his arm causing him to stop and look at her.

"Can you...come here?"

Confused, Dante blinked at her, "Uh..."

She tugged on his arm lightly, "I need...you to...help me."

"I'm trying—"

"No...I need you..."

Dante sighed, not really getting what she was talking about. But he'd be lying if he didn't admit that her saying she needed him was turning him on. Fucking hell...she was half way to death and he was thinking about sex. Something must be wrong with him. Ignoring his stupid brain, he leaned forward, bringing his face close to her's. He couldn't help to glance at her supple breasts in a vixen like black lace bra.

Focus...

Alice cupped her hands around his face, which startled him. Her hands were soft and a bit chilly, but the sensation zinging along his skin. Slowly she pulled him closer and Dante seemed to understand, if only in the back part of his brain what she wanted.

Her full lips found his and kissed him gently, almost shyly. Like she'd never kissed anyone before. It was surprisingly thrilling and his body shuttered from the contact. He couldn't help but kiss her back and when she breathed deeply, letting out a soft moan he kissed her back. His tongue licked her bottom lip making her gasp softly and in the next instant their innocent kiss turned into a deep, lustful one.

Oh yeah...

This was perfect. This was what he had been craving, this feeling of giddy, blissful teenage craziness that he was way too old for and yet, it felt so fucking right. She nibbled his lip with her sharp teeth and a zing shot through him to his toes. Fucking hell she was hot and sexy as hell...

And then he felt the familiar slip of her energy wrap around him, pulling his energy into herself. His breath caught as he felt her energy pull harder. It was an intense feeling and he felt his body tense, it was euphoric almost.

In the next moment, the pulling sensation became a push instead. Her energy was dark, but it wasn't vile like he expected it to me. It seemed, lost. Lonely. So much emotion pushed into him and once the heaviness eased, she became pulling his energy again. The switch of sensations had him forcing himself to get into the bed with her.

Their kiss never broke as he wrapped his arms around her small frame. Her body snuggled up to him and he could feel her breasts push against his chest. The bulge in his pants was becoming painful as it pressed up against her, making her moan. He could stop his hand from reaching around to grab her nice round ass. It was like his hand was made to cup her ass and he gripped it harder,

She stopped pulling his energy and began pushing her own into him again and he felt his body tighten with want. Oh god, if she kept going he was going to blow his load in his pants. Her emotions had shifted from loneliness to something lighter. A deep want mixed with relief and he faint was aware that her body was warming up. Just as he was about to make his move to her pants she suddenly pulled away from him, breaking their connection.

The sudden stop of the energy swap felt almost painful, especially in his pants. He blinked at her, ready to protest, but he stopped. She looked better. Her skin was pink and a quick look at her abdomen had he gawking. Her wounds were completely healed...

"Wow—" Dante said a second before her hand slapped his face with a harsh sting. "Ow! What the fuck was that for!?"

Alice laughed, happy and amused, the sound tugging at his heart even though he was suddenly pissed off again.

"You didn't think you'd get into my pants so easily did you? You've gotta earn it."

Dante gaped at her as she sat up, full of energy. She quickly stood, not bothering to cover her black lacey bra as she grinned at him and pointed to the obvious bulge in his pants.

"You might want to take care of that." She gave him a teasing wink and left his bedroom, closing his door behind her.

Dante collapsed on the bed, groaning.

"Fuck me..."


	17. Break

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies ahead of time for all my stupid spelling errors. I've been extremely exhausted the last few times I've posted, so editing is taking a back seat.
> 
> Cheers!

"Okay..."

"Breathe...." I whispered.

"Just breathe..."

So far my stupid attempt at calming myself down wasn't working. Instead I just seemed to be working myself up more. I was angry, though at the moment I wasn't sure if it was my own emotion or Dante's. I was also feeling shaky, like I was wired up and needed to do something. I needed some kind of release and I couldn't figure out how to do that.

I had taken a quick shower and slipped on a one of the pairs of jeans Mercy loaned me and a random t-shirt that no one had claimed in the laundry room. I needed to go out for a walk, cool off or maybe kill something. I had all this excess energy and don't know what to do with myself. So far I'd been pacing back and forth in my room for the last couple of hours. After swapping energy with Dante to heal myself, I felt odd.

I could feel him, his energy just down the hallway; like a pulsing, breathing ball of energy. I seemed completely focused on him, though I didn't know why. Part of me want to go back to his room and find that 'release' I wanted. The other part was screaming to get the fuck away from everyone and run as far as I could.

I needed a break for all this crazy bullshit.mi needed to not think about Lord Mundus or Dante. I needed to breathe and think without all this weight...

I stopped mid stride and eyeballed the window I'd broke weeks ago trying to escape. So far no one was in a hurry to fix it. There was just some heavy plastic covering the now glassless window.

Bingo...

* * *

"Dante wake up." Trish said, irritated.

"Mm...eh?" Dante grumbled as he slowly opened an eye to look at Trish looming over him wearing a tight blue corset and short leather skirt. Her arms her crossed and her hip was cocked.

"Well...helloooo." He said smoothly, his voice a littler deeper than normal after just waking up.

Trish sighed heavily and snorted, "Not only no, but hell no. Besides you're wearing one stupid slipper and that's it. I prefer my lovers to have more style."

Dante raised his head off his pillow to take a look behind him. He'd some how fallen asleep on his stomach, not his usual position, with no clothes on—which wasn't unusual. He wasn't under the covers at all either. He'd taken a shower after Alice had and was back in her room. It had taken a lot of effort on his part to not join her in the shower. He'd let the towel around his waist fall on the floor as he re-entered his room with his comfortable bunny slippers. One had a missing eye no the other was sporting crooked ears after a botch sewing attempt from a surprise demon attack at the shop. The one slipper on his foot, was currently the one sporting one eye.

Dante looked up at Trish and grinned lopsidedly, "Oh come on, you've seen me wearing less."

Trish rolled her eyes and chuckled, "Well, that's true." Without asking, she sat on the edge of his bed, exposing a good amount of thigh as she crossed her legs. "Dante, I didn't know Alice was hurt when I dropped her off. She looked fine after she found us in the lower level of that mansion."

"Us?" Dante asked, snuggling his pillow. It still smelled like Alice...

"Yes, those kids from that town that evacuated and I ended up in some secret lower level. There was a Dark Mother that had somehow taken up root in an old mansion. She killed it."

"She killed a Dark Mother?"

"Yes, she'd come looking for me since I didn't meet her back at the stairs. Dante, I swear she looked fine when she opened the door to the room where we were. When you called pissed, off I thought you were just trying vent some frustration or something. But this morning there was a pool of dried blood in my car on the passenger side where she sat. I think...she might have absorbed the Dark Mother's shifting ability when she killed it."

Dante frowned deep in thought. It was possible for her to absorb demonic energy, she was after all a small part of Mercy walking around. But she didn't heal quickly like Mercy did after a bad fight. She should have, but that wasn't even the biggest thing. Why the hell did she have to slap him after they were getting all hot and heavy? What the hell did he have to do to 'earn it'?

"How many kids where down there?"

"About a hundred or so, she'd eaten a few of them according to a little boy. Which speaking of that, doesn't that clear her of her 'save three lives deal'?" Trish said thoughtfully.

"Nah," Dante chuckled, "it's not that easy. According to Mercy she has to save three lives without an ulterior motive. So probably not. She was probably thinking that if you died she'd never be able to get Yamato from bro."

Trish smirked, "Well sounds like you have her all figured out. You think she's playing both sides?"

"Oh I know she is." Dante said, giving her a knowing smirk. Trish rolled her eyes and shook her head as she stood.

"Well I've got to get going."

"I'm going back to sleep." Dante said, yawning. He didn't know what time it was, but it didn't matter. He was tired.

"Oh by the way," Trish said as she grabbed the handle to his door to open it. "Alice isn't here."

Dante blinked at her and sighed loudly as Trish left his room.

"Man, I can not catch a break."


	18. Addiction

The afternoon sun was warm, even though it was freezing outside. Limbo City in winter was cold not only in temperature, but also in spirit. Walking the streets, bustling with pedestrians and people on the road, I found that I was able to pick up on their energy a lot more now. It wasn't as diluted as it had once been. Their energy was like shinning light in the back of my mind. Without looking directly at anyone I could tell they were either sad, depressed, lonely or in some cases (very few) happy.

As I walked I becoming increasingly interested in these human emotions. They were so strong and consuming that I found echoes of myself in each one of them. Their emotions colored the air with their own stories and I could almost hear them whispering.

The scorned mother with five kids whose husband left her for another woman, rambling about how useless men were.

The old man grumbling about the harshness of the city and how it wasn't always like that.

The small child being carried along in its mother's arms, crying because she was hungry and yet her mother seemed not to care.

And hundreds more just like them...

It was intoxicating to the point where I forgot I was walking at all. My feet moving of their own accord as my mind became so focused on the feelings and small bits of whispered information.

One in particular seemed to call out to me. A young woman. Her energy was dull, barely pulsing with breath. It felt sluggish, like it was fading. There was no fear, but regret was evident. My feet moved faster towards the energy, driven by one piece of knowledge that was wholly my own...

This woman was dying...

I'm not sure why I cared, or why I felt the need to search for her in the dark alleyway behind some club called 'Love Planet'. But the need to find her was overpowering to the point where my bones were aching.

It didn't take long. I found her slumped up against a heap of piled up trash. Her silky looking blonde hair was styled in soft waves around her round face. Her eyes were dull and unfocused and she was breathing slow, deep ragged breaths. Her clothing was scandalous in a leering way that I found rather cute on her, a strapless animal print dress with matching pumps. It was a tad too small for her large breasts, causing them to ooze out of the top slightly. Her jean jacket was heavily worn and dirty due to laying on the trash heap.

Her purse, a simple black bag with a silver chain for the strap, lay at her feet. It was opened wide, exposing a hoard of pill bottles. I frown slightly watching her dull eyes stare off into the distance. From the knowledge of the two dead women, I knew she had to be a drug addict. I had a faint understanding that she had taken too much of something, but I wasn't sure what I could do to help her.

I shifted a little towards her to get a better look at her face. The movement seemed to alert her that someone was there and she finally looked at me. Granted, it was still dull, but she seemed to focus on me for a moment.

"You're that...bitch Dante took...in." Her voice was familiar though I was sure I hadn't seen her before. It was languid and slurred with large gaps like she was trying to keep some kind of clarity. Her words were harsh and yet, I wasn't angry.

I felt sorry for her.

Fucking hell, what was happening to me? Why did I care if she died? Why did I feel sorry for her? And if she knew Dante... Well that raised a bunch of questions that just pissed me off.

Yet...

I didn't break her neck like I wanted to.

The woman made a sound that sounded like a mix of laughter and gurgling and I sighed. This woman deserves to die. She had red angry gashes in her energy, a sickly green covering the rest of it and black holes that were spreading. If I didn't do something soon, she'd die.

"Yeah, well Dante seems attracted to bitches it seems." I sighed and rubbed my temples, I was really going to regret this stupid act of kindness. Nothing good ever came from helping people. Ever.

I kneeled down next to her and slipped my arm under her head and made sure I gripped her arm hard enough to hold her still. Her dull eyes looked at me, blinking slowly as I came near to her face.

"You owe me for this princess. Don't say no one ever did anything for you."

She didn't answer me, which was fine. Her energy was quickly fading so talking was just wasting time. Something pulled at my chest and in the next moment, between one heartbeat and the neck I pressed my lips to hers.

* * *

"Seriously, no one has seen her?" Trish asked as Mercy, Vergil, Lady and Dante sat around the kitchen table.

"I'm telling you, I've searched everywhere in this city—she's gone." Dante said between a mouthful of pancakes Mercy had made. It had been almost a week since Alice disappeared and no one knew where the hell she went. If they weren't sleeping or on a job, they were looking for her. The weird part, was that there was no news being broadcasted of a sexy maniac killing people. No one was sure if that was good or bad.

"Good ridance. I say we move on. We have more pressing matters to discuss." Vergil added. He had finished his simple bowl of peach oatmeal and was sitting with his arms in his lap. His face was still the careful cool that it usually was and Dante chuckled.

"I'm with Vergil on this. Though I'd prefer if she was dead in an alleyway somewhere. No offense Mercy."

Mercy gave Lady a soft smile at her remark and shook her head, "I understand your feelings. But perhaps her absence means something different."

Trish smiled as she looked at Mercy, "Well, she is part of you so maybe I guess. Maybe she's not all bad?"

Mercy chuckled and shrugged, "We all have the ability for darkness and light. It depends on the choices we make."

Silence slowly fell among them, her words hitting deep for each of them. A loud knock on the front door sounded and Dante stood, having finished scarfing down his pancakes.

"I got it."

He left the kitchen without a backwards glance and made his way towards the front of the shop. He didn't let on to anyone how upset he was that Alice was missing. Hell he wasn't even sure exactly why he was upset in the first place. Sexual frustration? He didn't think so. It seemed like something deeper than that. Ever since she swapped her energy with his, he felt like a piece of himself was missing.

It was almost painful in a way...

He missed her.

Pushing aside the ache that had been steadily building he unlocked the door and opened it. Tina stood on the front step with her blonde hair up in a pony tail. Her make up was soft and made her look like a young woman instead of the sultry dancer he was used to seeing. She was also not wearing her one of her usual sexy outfits either. Instead she was wearing a pair of jeans, t-shirt and her jean jacket. Dante blinked for a moment and then smiled.

"Hey there baby. What brings you by?"

Tina gave him a soft smile and nervously adjusted her purse trap on her shoulder.

"I uh, just wanted to stop by and say goodbye."

"Goodbye?" Dante stared at her, confused.

"Y-yeah. Well, I kind of had a... You know, I don't know how to explain it. I just remember I was in a really dark place and then I woke up on my bed feeling better than I have felt for a long time. I...I don't know if you knew or not, but I have—well I did have a drug problem." She bit her bottom lip softly and Dante couldn't seem to stop staring at her. It was the most innocent gesture he'd ever seen on her. It was like she was a completely different person.

"No, I didn't know that." At least he didn't think he did. Maybe he should have paid better attention? Fuck...

"Hey, it's not a big deal if you didn't. Since I woke up a few days ago, I haven't touched the stuff. It's like all this nasty shit in my head and my heart just...went away." She smiled brightly and suddenly she wasn't just some dancer at Love Planet, she was just a young woman with...hope.

"Really? That's great. I mean, what are you going to do now? You said you're leaving?"

"Yeah, I'm going to go back to school and become a nurse. I want to help people. I've actually always wanted to be a nurse. I just...didn't think I could before. My friend said I could work at her dad's restaurant while I go to school. Between that and the money I saved dancing, I'll be able to pay my own way."

Dante smiled, she sounded so hopeful...so happy. In the time he'd known her, he'd never heard her sound that way. It was good to see her sound like that.

"That's great."

"Thanks." Tina smiled and nervously adjusted the strap on her shoulder again before stepping up and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I just wanted to say thank you for being so nice to me. You are a decent guy. I hope you find someone who makes you happy."

Dante blinked and looked at her a little wide eyed before hiding his surprise behind a curtain of playfulness. "Ah well, you know me. I'm good just being by myself."

Tina chuckled and shook her head, "Yeah, okay." Dante chuckled too. This nice moment was kind of bittersweet. He hated goodbyes.

"Well, I've got to get going. You take care of yourself okay?"

"Yeah, you too."

Tina smiled and turned, walking down the few steps. Just before Dante was going to closed the door Tina called back to him.

"Oh hey, Dante. One more thing, if you see that red headed girl again tell her I had a dream about her."

Dante stopped and stared at her, "Dream?"

"Yeah. When I was sleeping I had this dream that she found me and took my pain away. Kind of crazy right? Anyway, see you around."

With that she walked away down the sidewalk with Dante looking after her dumbfounded.

Did Alice...?


	19. Hell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man this one took a bit to get right, but I think I finally got it right. Or at least close to what Hell would be like...

Something was wrong with me.

I'd pulled all the negativity out of the blonde woman. Taking in her addiction, her anger, her want to be special and I absorbed it. I wasn't able to purify the energy and give it back to her like Mercy could. In order to replace what I took, I gave her Dante's energy.

It hurt. I felt her energy fester inside myself and I found that I wanted to drown in the numb feeling that had taken over my body. I didn't want to feel things anymore. I didn't want to deal with the fact that Lord Mundus was going to kill me for failing my mission. I didn't even want to deal with the fact that the woman, who had been Dante's lover, had filled my head with flashes of her memories of being with him.

His breath on her skin. His lips kissing along her neck so sweetly. He was so gentle with her and she knew it. I could feel the ghost memory of him plunging inside me...her...and yet, I knew it wasn't me who he called 'baby' in that almost loving voice.

I didn't know if he loved her, but she loved him. She didn't know that's what it was, but I knew, I'd seen it on Mercy and Vergil's faces enough times to drive me mad.

I'd saved his lover and it was killing me.

I was jelous.

Which as a single word didn't seem to complete the whole feeling.

I was angry.

But that didn't seem completely right either.

I was heartbroken...

That seemed closer to the truth.

These emotions were useless. They served no purpose and the more my mind raced with their meaning, the more frantic I felt.

The collar around my neck had started to glow faintly, heating my skin and driving my feet to move though I didn't want them too. I wanted to lay down, but my body wasn't listening to me. It took a while, but I found myself in front of the Hell Gate far below the surface, hidden away miles from Limbo City. I faintly remembered that the gate was there, an old memory from Mercy I think. The massive gate loomed before me, it's dark energy seeping from it in small doses.

I didn't want to be here anymore. This physical existence was killing me. Far slower than Lord Mundus would kill me. My breathing had become erratic and my heart felt like it was going to explode.

I took the last few steps forward and leaned up against the Hell Gate. It's cool stone giving off a surge of dark energy as I touched it.

"I don't want this. It hurts too much." I whispered angrily, hot tears staining my face. I'd never cried before, so I touched the tears with my fingers. I wasn't even surprised that they were black and muddy like myself.

A deep rumbling from the gate had bits of rock falling from the ceiling, but I didn't care. Even crushed to death by a rock was better than this. Dark energy from the gate seemed to wrap itself around me like a glove and the next moment I felt my body fall through the Hell Gate.

* * *

Hell...

Humans believe Hell is a place where the devil rules over a land of fire and brimstone, with demons ripping you apart for all eternity.

They're only half right.

Hell is as diverse in its landscape as the human plane, however if it is lacking on thing, it's warmth. There is no sun to warm the surface of the land—no light—and there is no heat to be found other than in the Burned Lands where the fire demons and their kin live. The Ice Mountains are home to of course the ice demons. While the rest of our kind live all around, fighting each other for space and killing each other over small squabbles.

It was a dog eat dog world as the humans would say.

It felt almost good to be back, other than the sheer mental pain I was dealing with and the knowledge that the moment I stopped falling, I'd probably be dead. The fall was symbolic, something demons had built into all Hell Gates to remind themselves every time they returned, they were here because they fell from Grace.

Fitting really to be reminded of such a thing, though I was not an angel or ever really been one.

My decent suddenly stopped mid fall, frozen in the air as the collar around my neck flared raging hot. It forced a scream from me that was sucked away by the darkness. Suddenly, I was flying towards the only visible landmark that cast an even darker shadow over Hell and all its inhabitants...

Lord Mundus's castle.

It's jagged design was a testament to the first demon lord who was killed by Lord Mundus. With his rise in power he enslaved thousands of demons to build it to such a monstrosity that it was a labyrinth of rooms, tunnels and dungeons. His rule was absolute.

I screamed in agony again as the collar threatened with pulsing heat. I could practically feel my skin blister and ooze blood as I slammed through the hard thick wall of the castle.

And then through another...

And another...

By the time I stopped being slammed through walls I could barely keep my eyes focused. My body was broken, in more places than I thought possible. I think I passed out for a while, because the next thing I knew there was large, cold hands caressing my bloody face.

"There, there my sweet. You're safe now."

I groaned, trying to pull away. I knew that voice even if I couldn't see him clearly.

"Shh now. I see you are sick." Lord Mundus chided as he stroked my burned neck, his fingers hovering over the collar.

"Well, well. It seems my Trophy has been meddling."

I shivered as I tried yet again, managing to turn my head away. His hand gripped my neck with deadly quickness and I gagged as he brought my limp body forward, in face inches from mine.

"It seems you both need a reminder who you belong to." His shoulder length dark hair framed his handsome face, a wicked smirk tugging at his lips. His demon eyes flashed a harsh red as he squeezed my neck harder.

My body began to shake as his hand shifted from its usual human appearance to a clawed demon hand, digging viciously into my neck. Blood gushed out, covering both of us as he continued to hold me there. My vision was fading and I didn't have the strength to fight him.

I wished he would kill me.

This body felt things, wanted things I didn't understand and I couldn't take the wash of emotions anymore, it was too much to bare.

Lord Mundus chuckled lowly as his long serpent like tongue lashed out and licked the wet blood from my face and neck.

"You've been tainted."

It wasn't a question or even directed at me but his words held disgust and I felt my mind growl in response.

I was not tainted. Through the haze of my fading mind, one thought came clear.

_Go fuck yourself..._

Lord Mundus stopped licking me and stared at my face as if he heard my thought. His clawed hand around my neck eased slightly as he scowled.

"Go fuck myself?" Dark energy rose up out of nowhere, searing into my body and raking the inside of my skull like a thousand razors. If I thought I didn't have the strength to scream anymore I was wrong.

I screamed for a long...

Long...

Long time...


	20. Reception

"This is itchy." Dante mumbled as he stood next to Nero. Nero rolled his eyes and whispered back lowly, "Shut it."

"Jeez kid, your mouth is worse than your dad's." Dante snickered as he tried to itch under the pressed collar of his shirt. The tux was hot, itchy and the blue tie was just silly looking. Not to mention the small white flower pinned to his lapel just seemed to add insult to injury.

"You promised not to be an ass today." Nero ground out. The large chapel was packed full of people from the town. They had all turned out for the ceremony and people were speaking in low hushed voices. Lady and Trish were dressed in matching blue dresses with red sashes. How the hell Kyrie had convinced Lady to wear a dress, Dante would never know.

"I said I'd _try_ not to be an ass." Dante corrected and grinned toothily when Nero sighed. Lady gave both of them a glare and Dante shrugged casually. It wasn't his idea to be best man. But it was fun to tease his nephew a bit.

"Boys." Mercy said softly, her tone was soft and yet it held enough weight to it to imply that if anyone messed up this day there would be hell to pay. Promptly shushed, both Nero and Dante let out soft sighs. Dante couldn't help notice that Nero had been trying to figure out what to do with his hands for the last few minutes. It was kind of cute to see the kid so worked up.

Love made people act crazy...

Alice's face flashed in his mind for a moment and he forced the image out as quickly as possible. It had been over a month since her disappearance. They had finally stopped looking for her a few days ago. Well, all of them except for Dante. Something in his gut kept telling him to look for her, that she was in trouble. Yet he couldn't find one speck of a trail to track.

The wedding march started playing and all eyes turned to the back of the isle. The entire precession stood as Kyrie emerged, dressed in a beautiful white gown with red and blue stones sewn onto it. It glittered and sparkled as she walked towards the alter where Mercy was standing.

Vergil, the only one of the wedding part not in a tux but in a lavish blue and black tailored suit, escorted Kyrie along. Dante couldn't help but notice that Nero seemed to stop breathing for a moment.

He smiled and nudged the kid slightly, "Breathe." He whispered. Nero took a shaky breath and smiled warmly as Kyrie and his father approached. Vergil handed off Kyrie to Nero and kissed her forehead softly before taking his place next to Mercy who was going to wed them. She wore a simple blue dress, strapless so her wings were fully exposed.

Honestly, who better to marry the two love birds than an actually Angel? It didn't get any 'holier' than that.

* * *

The reception was lively with music and dancing and Dante watched on as his friends and family enjoyed themselves. Nero and Kyrie were laughing and dancing, while Mercy and Vergil were talking to a group of locals. They were the epitome of proud looking parents and Dante couldn't have been happier for all of them. They all deserved to be happy.

Dante loosened his tie and took a deep swig off of his beer. He'd been casually eyeing one of the local girls, a sweet looking brunette with long hair and a nice ass. She'd been chatting up one of the other local guys but it was clear he wasn't into her. Dante was keeping a close eye on the situation so he could swoop in when the opportunity presented itself.

He hadn't spent the night with a women since the last time Alice swapped their energy. His libido had taken the biggest fucking dive imaginable. He hadn't even managed to rub one out successfully either. The sexual frustration was enough of a boner kill that he'd practically given up on sex.

But damn it, he was going to give it one last effort even if it killed his reputation as an excellent lover.

Because if he didn't get over this fucked up infatuation with Alice soon, he was going to go crazy.

"You look like you're out on the hunt." Said Trish as she suddenly appeared next to him.

"Who me?" He said innocently.

"Oh give me a break, you've been eyeing that girl for the last twenty minutes." Trish rolled her eyes and took a sip of her champagne.

Dante grinned and shrugged, "Well you know what they say, girls get horny at weddings. What kind of guy would I be if I didn't help out all those beautiful ladies?"

Trish snickered and shook her head, "Ha, so you're playing that card huh?"

Dante took a swig of his beer and looked back at the brunette he'd been watching. She was still talking to the guy, who was looking more and more bored by the minute.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Right. So I supposed I should just ignore the fact that you've still been looking for her?"

Dante knew better than to react to her question, so instead he kept still and took another swing of his beer. The bitter taste felt good going down.

"Her?" He said casually.

"You know who I mean. Dante we all agreed, it's better that she's gone. She was a headache and you even said it yourself that she was playing both sides."

Dante kept watching the brunette as he made a small humming noise, neither agreeing or disagreeing. While he knew that's what she was doing there was something he hadn't told anyone. Maybe it was because he didn't want to open himself up for heartache, or maybe he was just being stupid—two very good possibilities. But the last time they had swapped energy he felt like... She felt different. Like something was changing in her, like that negative energy that had been so nasty before was somehow shifting. Evolving.

It almost felt warm.

And when she moaned into their kiss as she pulled his energy and pushed her's into him, he felt her longing. Her want. Not just of him physically, but like she was falling in—.

A commotion erupted in the back of the reception hall as a loud explosion rocked the floor. People screamed and suddenly the music cut off. People were running from the back entrance as dust and debris filled the air.

As it slowly cleared Dante felt his heart fall to the floor.

Alice slowly walked out of the cloud of smoke and diust. Her red hair was spiked like a crown on her head. Dark black scales of demonic armor covered her body, as bat like wings with talon hooks arched over her head. For a moment Dante felt that he couldn't breathe as her red burning eyes found him in the crowd.

Their gazes locked for a split second before the collar around her neck flashed an ugly yellowish red. Faintly he heard the sound of burning as she quickly moved her focus to Mercy who had started to help people escape out the front door. People where pushing and screaming, trying to get away from the evident danger. Dante quickly tried to look for his brother or Nero, but he couldn't find them in the crowd. Trish had already made her way to the other side of the room to try and flank Alice. Lady was probably helping to get Kyrie and others to safety.

Before Dante could pull his guns to fire, Alice was suddenly behind Mercy. Her face like stone as she manifested a sword made of dark energy and plunged it in between Mercy's wings.

 


	21. Breaking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

>   
> 
> 
> Thank you so much to Limboolian for their amazing pic they drew for this chapter. It is seriously like she pulled the image from my head and slapped it on paper. So brilliant! Seriously, this is the highest form of flattery. ^_^ 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has kept reading, left comments, kudos and bookmarked. It means a lot to me!

"MERCY!" Vergil's half demonic scream echoed through the emptying reception hall. Dante spotted him in his Devil Trigger form on the other side of the room. His brothers face looked pained as Mercy's scream reached a high peek.

Tim seemed to stop for a moment as Dante pulled his guns and aimed at Alice. He might be infatuated with her, but he wasn't going to let her kill his brother's wife. Alice's face was completely blank as her dark energy sword sank in deeper. Blood poured out of Mercy's chest and splattered on the floor in a bright red gush.

Without compassion, Alice pushed Mercy off her energy sword to collapse in a heap on the marble floor. The sudden stillness of the room was absolute. Half a second later the battle erupted with Dante and Trish shooting and Nero and Vergil both in their Devil Trigger forms with swords attacking Alice.

* * *

I was...floating?

No that wasn't right.

Maybe I was falling?

That didn't seem right either.

The darkness was so thick that I couldn't see my own hands in front of my face. I felt weird. Like maybe I was sleeping.

Am I dreaming?

No, I didn't think so.

But it was quiet. Almost peaceful. It was almost like feeling happy.

Was I happy?

No....

* * *

Trish screamed as Alice got close enough to grab her by the arm and twist it viciously. The loud snap was brutal and Trish almost collapsed under the pain. Alice did care that her body was taking damage from bullets and that Nero and Vergil both had their swords buried into her back. Her leather bat like wings flapped and hit them off of them with such force that Nero ended up through the opposite wall. Vergil managed to stop mid air by grabbing the hanging chandelier.

Alice shook Trish's injured arm like a rag dog before throwing her through a pile of tables, chairs and debris. Dante jumped up and pulled his sword, guns were doing nothing. Neither were swords, but it seemed better than hanging back and shooting at this point.

Nero emerged from the hole in the wall he'd made, back in his normal form.

"You're going to pay for what you did to my mother you shadow bitch." His voice was nasty, holding the same coldness of his father. In all the years he'd know the kid he'd never heard him say 'bitch' before.

Alice merely looked at Nero. Her red eyes were blazing like fire, and yet her face was solid stone. It was like watching a puppet regard a speck of dust. The lights were on, but no one was home.

Vergil growled as his Devil Trigger form shifted him back to his normal form and it was evident being too long in the form was wearing on him. Trish was moaning from the pile she'd landed on, but no one was willing to take their eyes off Alice. Dante was trying his best to ignore the pain in his chest, but it came out regardless in the form of one word.

"Alice...?"

He hated that he sounded so wounded, if his brother or Nero noticed they didn't say anything. Alice slowly turned, her bat like wings stretching a moment before settling as she looked at him. The collar around her neck flashed that ugly yellow again and the sound of burning became apparent with the smell of ozone in the air. Her eyes snapped away from him and Dante knew without a doubt that it might be Alice's body, but it wasn't 'Alice'.

Dante glanced at his brother and then to Nero, all three having a silent conversation. They'd have to beat her back to her senses. Or at least try before they killed her.

Without a word, Dante, Vergil and Nero came at her with their swords ready. Her steely face showed no emotion as she moved quicker than any of them could see or track. In the next moment she was at the other side of the room standing over Mercy's lifeless body. Dante wasn't sure if she was still alive or not.

He needed to focus. His emotions would have to take a backseat for the moment. His feelings about Alice, protecting his family...

He'd have to set it all aside in order to save Alice and them all.

* * *

Why was it so cold?

Had I always been this cold?

No, I remember being warm. I remember my heart beating quickly and my skin feeling like it was on fire. But it didn't burn, it didn't hurt. It felt good.

Good...?

I remember someone touching me. Large, warm, strong hands holding me.

Kissing...me...

He smelled like gun powder and leather. His energy was warmth and light and...

He?

And I knew it... Him. I know him. I missed him...

But I didn't know where the feeling went.

Was it gone...

Forever?

* * *

"Alice wake up!" Dante yelled as she tossed Mercy's limp body at Vergil, catching him off guard. Nero tried to move in for a strike but he missed as she moved too quick to see behind Vergil as he caught Mercy. Without warning she plunged a clawed hand into his back.

Blood sprayed her face as he screamed and Dante moved without thinking sinking his sword into Alice's side. Vergil held onto Mercy as he tried to get away but Alice dug her hand in deeper. The sound of bones and tissue letting go and snapping was sickening and Dante pulled his sword out and slashed her back. Anything to get her to let go. Vergil's scream peeked just as Nero came at her from the other side trying to slash her other side. But her wing moved to block him and he was quickly tossed aside by its strength.

"Alice! Stop! You're killing them!" Dante screamed again, trying to get through to her as her hand dug deeper into his back and going for Vergil's heart.

He was running out of time, he was going to have to kill her before she killed him.

* * *

" _Alice wake up!_ "

That voice...

I knew that voice. But it wasn't its usual playful tone, it was desperate. But why? I wasn't asleep.

Or at least I didn't think I was.

I couldn't see anything in this darkness. It was so cold...

" _Alice! Stop! You're killing them!_ "

Them?

But I wasn't doing anything. I was just here. I was getting away from the pain of missing him...

Pain scorched the inside of my brain as a series of flashes ripped through me. Images of people and things I didn't remember. A man with white hair cornering me in a bathroom. Two women in a clothing store, screaming. A homeless man touching me. A deal to repent...

No...

It was a promise...

I promised. I promised I'd save three people to make up for my mistakes.

I screamed as the pain turned physical. My body shook as I screamed, trying to fight my way out of the darkness.

More images followed.

Lord Mundus...

No...Mundus...hurting me. Laughing. Torturing me.

Breaking me....

And all the while, there was the steady feeling of warmth hidden away. That memory of the white haired man kissing me, holding me...freely giving me his energy without me asking.... His playfulness. That hidden pain and loneliness...

He was...

"DANTE!"


	22. Returning

“Alice! Please!” Dante screamed as he pulled his sword out of her side. Blood poured out of Vergil’s mouth as he stubbornly held Mercy’s lifeless body. He sputtered as Dante brought the sword over his head to bring it down on Alice’s neck in a killing blow. He was out of time…his brother was out of time…

It might already be too late for Mercy. He had hesitated too long and the guilt was crushing as he focused on the collar on her neck. It had started to flash from the bright red to the ugly yellow again, but this time she wasn’t looking at him. It took him a full half second to bring the blade down to her exposed neck, a position he honestly couldn’t believe she let him get into. It was like she knew exactly where he was and what he was doing and yet, she wasn’t really doing anything to stop him. Not like she had his brother and Nero.

Alice’s head jerked roughly just before Dante’s sword was about to connect with her neck and cut her head off. In that small moment he noticed her eyes weren’t glowing red, they were her usual gold for a moment before becoming red again. Dante barely managed to stop his sword from ending her right there, but he still managed to slice the back of her neck just a little as he pulled it away.

“What are you doing!? Kill her Dante!” Screamed Nero as he tried to no avail, to slash Alice. Her large leather wings quickly knocked him away again and he screamed in frustration. She was moving too fast to counter her moves correctly.

“Alice! Come on, wake up! Let him go!” Dante dropped his sword in a moment of pure panic when his brother made a sickly gurgling sound. He couldn’t see his face but he knew the sound of death when he heard it. Dante grabbed Alice’s arm that was imbedded in his brother’s back and tried to pull her arm out.

Slowly he felt the tenseness of her arm ease and he quickly glanced at her face again. Her eyes kept shifting back and forth between glowing red and bright gold. The collar had now stopped flashing but was beginning to really burn into her neck, even though her demonic armor was still present. The smell of burnt flesh was heavy and it made Dante’s stomach roll.

“Come on, Sexy… Let go.” Dante whispered through gritted teeth as he continued to pull on her arm. He felt her hand loosen up and her arm slid out of his brother’s back. Vergil collapsed on the floor in a pool of his and Mercy’s blood. Faintly Dante could see their chests moving with breath. Letting go of Alice, who was standing perfectly still and robotic, Dante kneeled down next to his brother and sister in law. They were both extremely pale and Dante felt the sting of tears in his eyes as he slapped his brother’s face to get him to focus.

“Vergil. Vergil! Come on bro, you gotta stay awake for me okay?”

Nero had given up on Alice now that she had let go of his father and rushed to get to his parents side. He left his sword on the ground forgotten as he cradled his mother’s head in his lap.

“Mom. Mom!” He yelled, trying to shake her awake. Her breathing was too soft, too ragged and as Nero looked at Dante… Dante knew this was the end for both of them…

* * *

I blinked slowly as the pain in my body dulled out and became distant. I knew I was severely hurt, but the scene before me pushed the pain away because it wasn't important.

Vergil and Mercy were being held by Dante and a younger man who looked a lot like Vergil. He glared at me with tears in his eyes as he held Mercy close to him. His eyes were faintly glowing, not red, but a bright blue. My chest hurt, in a way that it never had before. I knew this man, he was my...no, Mercy's son. So many emotions welled up that I felt more than saw my skin shift as I kneeled down.

Dante looked at me, his eyes so filled with pain that I quickly looked away from him. It hurt too much to look at him. Images of him and the blonde woman swam up in my mind and I took a shaky breath.

I did this. I may not have remembered it or consciously done it. But I did it. They didn't deserve this...

The collar around my neck hissed and pain shot through my body. I felt it, but it seemed some how detached from the rest of me.

Detached...

I looked at Mercy.

The Angel.

The trophy.

I was the part of herself she couldn't live with. Maybe the Dark Mother was right, the only way to be free was to go home...back to the source. To make things right, I'd have to disappear.

That's what I had wanted right? To escape this pain? The emotional turmoil of everything, the right—the wrong... But...

I looked at Dante and Nero again, their grief was evident and I knew no matter what I felt, their pain was worse. And though I didn't understand these feelings, what I wanted didn't matter.

Huh, maybe Mercy wasn't stupid after all.

Without much thought about what I was doing, I grabbed Dante and Nero's shoulders.

* * *

Dante looked at Alice the moment he touched him, his vision blurry from tears. It felt like a pence of himself was dying. There was a time when he thought Vergil was dead, many years actually. And now as he held his brother's dying, limp body he knew that he would have felt Vergil's death. They were twins after all.

Alice looked at him with pained gold eyes. Her demonic armor had receded, leaving her bloody and naked. Even her wings had some how disappeared, but that wasn't was drew his attention.

She had hundreds if not thousands of deep cuts all over her body. Her skin was blotchy with yellowed faded bruises and her body was so thin he could practically see her bones. Anger followed by more emotional pain swelled up in his chest.

"Ali—." He whispered, but she shook her head and looked at Nero who had curled his body around his mother as much as possible. Her hand was also touching his shoulder, but he made no move to shake her from him. Too wrapped up in his grief.

Alice closed her eyes and visibly swallowed, "I'm...sorry." She barely whispered, her voice strained like she hadn't spoken in years.

Dante opened his mouth to say something but he stopped, feeling her familiar energy wrap around him and suddenly pull hard. He gritted his teeth as Nero let out a pained noise. Dante tried to move away but his body wouldn't move no matter how hard he tried. It was like he was frozen in place.

Alice pulled harder, causing Dante to break out into a cold sweat. He was feeling light headed, his vision swimming. Nero collapsed on the ground next to his mother just as Alice pulled her hands away from both of them. Dante managed to stay sitting up, but only barely.

He watched Alice careful place her hands on either side of Mercy's face. Dante watched as he swayed back and forth, trying to force himself to stay conscious. It was a loosing battle though and the last thing he saw before he fell down next to his brother was Alice kissing Mercy's forehead.


	23. Home

I blinked rapidly against the white light that was blinding my vision. It was so damn bright that I shielded my eyes in an attempt to see, but that didn't help.

"Hello?" I said.

No one answered me. Just great, either I was dead or...

"Hello Alice."

Turning towards the voice I came face to face with Mercy, the Angel... The trophy. She wasn't dressed in her usual hoodie and jeans, but in what looked to be silver plated armor. It was very regal looking, almost Royal. Her long white hair was long and flowed around her like water as her feathered wings shifted slightly. She looked...beautiful. She looked like she should...an angelic warrior. It made me feel less than worthy for some reason to be in her presence and I nervously crossed my arms.

"Uh...hello."

We stood in silence for a while, just two halves of the same soul regarding each other. It felt awkward. To the point were I was growing impatient with the silence.

"Can we get this over with?" My voice was a little more sarcastic than I intended and she tilted her head at me. The look was chiding, even though she was smiling and I cringed.

"Please." I added. Maybe that would move things along.

"Mm." She hummed, watching me for a moment longer before finally speaking.

"You realize that if I accept you back, you'll completely disappear? All that you've learned will wash away and you will become part of me."

"Yes I know that."

"You're 'life' will end." She said, her face serious.

I rolled my eyes and huffed, "Yes damnit!" I was one foot stomp away from a child like fit, but I didn't care. Here I was trying to do the right thing, the _good_ thing, and she was wasting precious time.

"You need to hurry, Vergil is going to die without you." I snapped. Mercy remained calm, like there was all the time in the world.

"What about Dante?"

I growled, "What about him?"

"Don't you want to be with him?"

I opened my mouth to yell at her, scream maybe. But nothing came out, all the words sticking in my throat as my chest ached suddenly. I tried again to talk, but nothing came out. I clenched my teeth as I moved my hands to my sides.

"What I want...is for you to hurry this up so your family will live!"

Mercy took a step forward and placed her delicate hand on my shoulder. Her eyes were sincere as she gently smiled at me.

"They are your family too Alice."

Her bright blue eyes searched mine and I had to look away. I didn't have a family. I wasn't even really a person. I was the broken angry thoughts and memories of the last Angel... I was a slave to Mundus... I was a thing... Maybe less than one...

"Please..." I said softly, closing my eyes against the ache in my chest that just seemed to get bigger. I didn't want to be a 'thing' anymore. If I was part of Mercy again, I wouldn't even remember these feelings and emotions.

Mercy wrapped her arms around me in a tight embrace, startling me into opening my eyes. She smelled like rain and flowers...like spring time. It was soothing and I felt myself relax against her as I slowly brought my arms up and hugged her back.

"Welcome home." Mercy whispered.

* * *

Dante laid in his bed with his arm over his eyes. The last few weeks had been a blur. He honestly couldn't remember if he'd eaten yesterday, or even the day before. Other than the few odd jobs here and there, he'd pretty much just locked himself in his room.

Remembering...

When he had finally come to after Alice had taken his energy, he found Mercy hovered over his brother. Her dress was stained from all the blood and yet, she looked better than she had before. She looked somehow... _more_ like herself. If that made any kind of weird sense. Her hands glowed faintly as she moved them over his brother. It had taken all of his strength to sit up and watch as she placed her hands on Vergil's lifeless body.

There was a long silence that followed, interrupted by Lady emerging with Kyrie. The new bride ran to Nero's side, tears running down her face as Lady ran to Trish was was trying to crawl out of the heap of tables and chairs she'd been tossed into. Dante wasn't sure how more of them weren't dead... As far as he could tell Nero was sleeping deeply.

Finally, after too many silent minutes, Vergil coughed. Blood sputtered out of his mouth and Mercy instantly rolled him onto his side as he coughed more blood up. Dante looked on worriedly, not sure what he could do to help. The fact that his brother was coughing was actually a good sign. When Dante hear Vergil take a sharp breath and look up at Mercy, Dante almost collapsed back down on the floor out of relief.

"M-mercy?" Vergil coughed some more as she smiled, bloody tears in her eyes as she kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her, neither of them caring that he'd just coughed up a shit ton of blood.

That's love.

Dante watched quietly as the relief was evident in everyone's faces. Just as they were about to pull apart, Nero sat up groggily holding his head.

"Ugh." He grumbled as Kyrie sobbed in relieve.

"Oh thank god." She hugged him fiercely, causing him to make a pained noise.

"Ow...hey." Nero said as he wrapped his arm around her and kissed her forehead. He suddenly looked around, spotting his parents alive and well.

"Mo—" Nero said, cut off by Mercy's hug. Vergil looked on, clearly not knowing what to do with himself. Dante chuckled and clasped his brother shoulder. They looked at each other for a moment as Trish and Lady's foot steps approached.

"I don't know about you..." Said Trish, her arm hanging limp at her side as Lady held her up carefully.

"But I think we need a vacation..." Lady finished. Everyone laughed, hugging each other again. Except for Vergil and Dante, who watched on.

Dante kept his face blank as he watched Mercy closely for any signs of Alice. But it was like she had never existed. There wasn't a hint of her anywhere. Well except for one thing...

Dante noticed a tarnished ring on the floor that looked vaguely familiar. Picking it up he felt his stomach tighten sickenly. Alice's collar was no longer the shiny solid piece of Devine metal it had been. Instead it was tarnished, rusted and cracked in a few places.

The inside of the collar was etched crudely with angelic script and on the outside, Mercy's perfect script had turned black with three white lines running through it. Mercy noticed Dante holding it as everyone else slowly made their way out of the destroyed reception hall. He hadn't even noticed before that they had agreed to leave.

"Dante?"

Dante stood, feeling like he'd been run over a couple of times. He would have answered her, but he just couldn't seem to make the words come out. Instead he looked from the collar to her as she stepped closer to look at the collar.

"I guess she saved three lives huh?" His voice sounded roughy with held back emotion and Mercy, the sweetie that she was, didn't crowd him. He was thankful for that, he didn't want to cry anymore today.

"Yes." She said simple and he nodded once before turning the opposite way the others had gone. He'd walk back to the shop, maybe by the time he got back he'd be back to his normal self. Or at least be able to mask this new pain.

Because what he felt now was definitely a new kind of pain.


	24. Existence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, just a few things before we get started.
> 
> 1) This is in no way over. Think of this like an intermission period or the calm before the coming storm...
> 
> 2) Don't watch weird conspiracy videos on YouTube while eating ice cream. Seriously, afterwards you start to think that brain freeze is aliens trying to harvest your brains. O_O
> 
> 3) I noticed this only had nine Kudos—out of 300 some odd views. While that doesn't bother me, it does make me laugh. Either this is good and people can't leave more that one kudo OR it's shitty and people went "eh...nope." Either way is fine, lol, but if it's the latter and this sucks—please comment so I can improve and make it better! Thanks for your continued support!

Mercy landed a strike that knocked Vergil back about five feet. He grunted as he managed to land on his feet, but it was clear the blow would have been damaging had she put her full force behind it. Normally he despised anyone who held back in a sparing match, but since she had become 'whole'...

Well let's just say he wasn't about to kick a tiger...or angel...and see how far he got.

Mercy stood straight, a gentle smile on her lips. Both of them were covered in sweat, but she still looked glorious to him. So beautiful, and if he was honest, there was a shimmer of violence lurking in her soft, bright blue eyes that hadn't been there before. He noticed it a few days after she reabsorbed Alice. Or accepted Alice... It was hard to know what happened really. Mercy hadn't given him much more of an answer than 'she came home' when he'd asked.

Among other troubling things, he had noticed Dante had become somewhat of a recluse. He pretty much avoided Mercy if he could and would only offer up a humble smile to him. He would have asked for Nero's input, but the young man was currently on his honeymoon. Vergil vowed to himself as soon as he sorted out Dante and Mercy he was going to get back to his own honeymoon.

"Vergil?" Mercy asked, her voice was soft like usual. But again he heard a bite to it that he hadn't before.

"Mercy," he said as a thought came to him while sheathing his sword. "How do you feel?"

"Feel?" She tilted her head slightly as her wings shifted and resettled. Her tank top and spandex shorts were a bit too revealing, but he'd be lying if he didn't admit he liked the look of her curvy, small frame in them.

Vergil moved his eyes away from her, damn. You'd think by now he'd be used to how she affected him but he wasn't. She'd shatter his control with one word and never know it.

"Yes, how do you feel?"

Mercy looked thoughtfully at him for a moment, "I feel fine. Though it will take some getting used to."

"I can imagine."

"Though, not in the way you think."

Vergil raised his brows as he looked at her, confused. "Meaning?"

Mercy smiled wide, it was cute and charming at the same time. She tapped her temple with her finger, "Alice is still here."

"What?"

* * *

" _Why the hell would you tell him that!?_ " I cursed as Mercy exposed our little secret. Why the hell I was still existing was a complete mystery, though Mercy tried to explain it. Something about energy and mental growth...or some bullshit. We were currently two separate people occupying the same body. I was a part of her soul that grew separate. Which meant she was in control because it was her body, and she got to listen to me bitch a lot.

" _Because he is my husband._ "

" _That's stupid._ "

Mercy chuckled, " _Maybe to some, but I decided a long time ago that if I ever found Vergil I'd never hide anything from him again_."

" _Again...stupid_." I mumbled.

Mercy quieted as she continued to speak to her man. I could see what she saw, but my feelings were separate. I was just a voice inside her head. I wasn't sure why she hadn't tried harder to absorb me completely, but at least I didn't have to feel her emotions or anything physical. I could also choose not to look through her eyes and block out conversations if I wanted. Which was a blessing.

I did NOT want to see her and Vergil having sex...

Mercy on the other hand seemed to know if I was watching or listening. She also had a keen sense on what I was feeling. Whether that was because I was in her head or not was up for debate.

Currently, Vergil was stunned into silence. Which made me laugh and Mercy chuckle.

" _He looks like a dork with his mouth hanging open like that._ " I commented.

 _"I don't think he looks like a penis."_ She said thoughtfully and I groaned.

" _Not THAT kind of dork, the idiot kind. Geez, didn't you pick up any slang from your time in the human world?_ "

" _Dante taught me what an 'asshole' was._ " Mercy said, sounding slightly offended.

I laughed, " _He should have taught you dork too._ "

" _I'll be sure to mention it to him._ " Mercy snarked back and I laughed harder. She may not know a lot of human slang, but she defiantly understood sarcasm.

Vergil apparently found his voice and was looking more and more stern.

* * *

"You mean you didn't absorb her?" His voice a little louder than he meant it to be.

"I did mostly. But she is her own being."

"But why?! I mean, she's part of your soul isn't she?" He said in disbelief.

Mercy looked thoughtful for a moment before answering. "She saved three lives. Even under Mundus's absolute control. Just like you, she made a choice which saved us. We would not be alive with out her and our son would be an orphan."

Vergil blinked, "Well yes..." He agreed, somewhat reluctantly.

"Her soul is in balance. When she broke the hold and sacrificed herself she nullified any effect the slave collar had on her. Her actions were noble, brave and selfless. How can I destroy her because of that? If I did then I would not deserve to be here."

"But..." Vergil said, his words lost in the truth.

"She maybe a 'terror', but she is honorable. She deserves to live, just as your brother deserves to be happy."

Vergil sighed, the wind cut from his sails as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Alright. You've made your point. Now what do we do?"

"We have to ease her fear. She is afraid of emotions. She finds them weak and useless. Until she accepts that they are not all bad I cannot separate her from me. She is clinging to me without realizing it."

Vergil stared at Mercy for a moment as she smiled. Walking up to him, she stood on her tippy toes and kissed his lips.

"And how do we do that?" He said, a growling a little. Without even trying she was shifting his mind to other things.

"We give her a reason to accept."

"Why does this sound like I'm not going to like this?"

Mercy grinned and kissed him again deeper, making him growl.


	25. Compassion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to all the wonderful and awesome comments! You guys are kick ass. ^_^
> 
> Enjoy!

" _This is a stupid idea._ " I grumbled.

"This is a stupid idea." Vergil said at the same time.

Mercy frowned and chided both of us simultaneously, "I know both of you are against this, but I really think this will help."

Vergil sighed as he looked up at the neon sign that had a naked woman sitting on top of a planet with rings around it. 'Love Planet' held its steady pink color as the girl on top kicked her leg up and down.

"I really don't see how."

" _For once I agree with the dork._ " I snickered as Mercy sighed herself.

"Please." She said, drawing his attention from the sign to her. His face looked stern and cold, but his eyes were warm. I secretly wondered if he always looked at her like that.

" _Yes, he does, but don't tell him. It's our little secret._ "

" _Ooo, black mail. I like it._ " If I had hands I would have rubbed them together. But as it was, instead I was met with a very confused Angel.

" _Black postage?_ "

I groaned, " _Nevermind, let's just get this over with_."

The 'plan' as it were, was for Vergil to meet Dante at Love Planet and get him to talk about why he was locking himself in his room. Both Mercy and Vergil were worried about him. Mercy would slip inside and listen in on their conversation. What the point of all this was...I had no idea. It didn't seem like talking was going to help anything.

Personally, I didn't want to see Dante. I hadn't seen him in weeks because he refused to come anywhere near Mercy. While I missed him, I just knew no good would come of me seeing him.

Just thinking about him...

Ugh, nope. Not going there.

" _Are you ready?_ " Mercy asked.

" _I guess. But don't be surprised if I tune you all out. I don't really want to be here._ " I may have not wanted Dante to lock himself away, but I didn't want him to ogle other girls either.

" _Yes I know._ " She said matter of factly. I would have thought she was being a bitch, but really I knew she was trying to express her support of my feelings. Which was both annoying and...kind of comforting.

"Alright. Let's get this over with." Vergil grumbled as Mercy kissed his cheek and walked away. She slipped down the alley way that lead to the back door of the club and slipped inside. With any luck, Dante would be here any minute and Vergil would convince him to come inside.

" _What's the point of all this again?_ "

" _To help you accept how you feel and help Dante as well_." Mercy answered. I watched through her eyes as she walked behind the stage to the manager's office. Surprisingly, the place was pretty clean for a strip club.

" _I don't need to 'accept' anything and why are we at the Manager's office?_ " I asked as she knocked softly on the door.

" _He owes me a favor. I rebalanced his energy so he could stop drinking and wouldn't loose custody of his daughter._ "

" _So you what? Just did it out of the kindness of your heart?_ " I teased.

" _Yes. Much like you did with the blonde dancer named Tina._ "

I shut up after that. A wash of anger, jealousness and sadness washed over me. I didn't regret saving her, but I also couldn't seem to get over the fact that her and Dante slept together. Her memories were still vivid to me.

A middle aged man with balding black hair opened the door. He wore glasses, which made his eyes seem bigger than they were. His button up shirt was slightly wrinkled, but clean.

"Mercy?" He smiled in greeting and extended his hand to her. She gave it a gentle shake in return.

" _This guy had a drinking problem?_ " He looked more like a nerdy guy to me.

" _Yes. Humans tend to drown their pain. His wife died a few years ago from cancer._ " Mercy pushed flashes of images to me, filling my vision with his memories. His wife laughing with their daughter at a park. His wife on her death bed as he held her hand. Countless drinks to numb the pain of her loss, but never actually feeling better. It was overwhelming to the point where I could feel his loss. By the time it was over the manger was gone and Mercy was changing her clothes in a dressing room.

" _Fuck, what the hell?! I didn't need to see that humans life or feel his pain. Why the hell would you do that?_ " I cursed, feeling like suddenly she had control over me.

" _You must accept others pain in order to accept your own. We are all part of each other. We live. We laugh. We cry. We love. It is this understanding that allows us to show compassion. So things like hate, segregation and loss can be moved past. To help and hear others is for them to do the same for us._ "

If I could have rolled my eyes, I would have. " _Blah, blah, blah. Next question...why the hell are you changing clothes?_ "

Mercy chuckled, " _Showing you compassion_."

* * *

Dante downed the shot of whiskey like it was water. He'd come to the conclusion that he was depressed sometime over the last few weeks. He wasn't sure why he was.

Okay that was a lie.

He knew why, he just didn't really want to think about it. Hell, there was really no reason to be depressed anyway. It's not like they had spent a lot of time together. Mostly it was him keeping his distance, unless he was teasing her. He had kept his distance because he liked her...

Which was not his style. If he liked a woman, he went for it. Like poker, all in and confident.

"Dante." His brother said beside him. Dante gave him his best grin, which was admittedly forced. He had no idea why the hell his brother had invited him out to Love Planet of all places. He hadn't been here since Tina showed up at the shop to announce she was leaving.

He'd declined to go. Which lead to Vergil pestering him about getting out of the shop. Which lead to Dante ignoring him, which in turn inevitably lead to Vergil and him sparing on the third floor and getting his ass handed to him.

So here they were. Sore ass and all.

"Bro." Dante responded as he took another shot. It was pretty dead for a Tuesday night, so they sat at the bar. The bartender was a tall hottie with long legs and a low cut top. Her hair was a deep purple and she winked at Dante as she poured him another shot. Dante was sure he knew her name, but it wasn't coming to him right then.

"Why are you hiding?" Vergil sounded accusing, but Dante merely shrugged. He might have sounded like an asshole, but deep down—WAY deep down— his brother was a good guy. Which was made more apparent by Mercy. He was glad that she wasn't here. He didn't want to keep searching her eyes for signs of Alice...

"I'm not hiding. I'm just taking a little me time. You know, soul searching or whatever you call it." Dante downed the next shot and was already waving the bartender for another when the lights started to dim.

"Dante—" Vergil began before being cut off by Dante, who spun around and motioned to the stage.

"Shhh, the shows starting." He grinned lopsidedly as Vergil rolled his eyes and glanced to the stage. A sexy voice came over the speakers as a heavy metal beat started playing.

"Tonight, for one night only, Love Planet presents...Alice."

Dante stared as the lights dimmed lower and the metal guitar music started playing louder. The silhouette behind the sheer curtain looked exactly like Mercy. Right down to the feathered angel wings. His brother did a double take and both of them stared wide eyed as the curtain pulled back.


	26. Dance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo, I'm not sure how this chapter is going to read. I know nothing about dancing or stripping (the awesome art that it is), so I'm kind of just winging this. I might come back later when I do my big edit and flush this out, but for now...this is it.
> 
> Also, Closer by Nine Inch Nails was the muse for Alice's dancing. Which was way harder to describe in writing then I thought it would be. Ugh.
> 
> I hope this reads okay! Enjoy!

The music was loud and the stage was lit up with red and yellow lighting. The curtain had pulled back to reveal a fairly empty room. It has hard to make out which figures where Dante and Vergil, there were only a handful of options really. Before I could focus too much on where they were Mercy turned her gaze as she began to dance. It was slow, rhythmic and made the practically see through white teddy flutter around her exposed thighs. Though I was in her head I could feel her movements and was cringing. She wasn't matching the beat at all.

" _What the hell...are you doing?_ "

" _Dancing_."

" _Alright, I know I don't know much about how humans dance but this seems...boring._ " I snickered.

" _Perhaps, but it's best to blend in._ " She said matter of factly. The music was upbeat and her movements were more in tune with something more formal. Not this animalistic and heavy rhythm.

" _You call this blending in?! You're a delicate looking woman with feathered wings sticking out of her back you idiot_." I ranted. Seriously, whatever weird relationship we might have, the woman was dense.

" _Fine then._ " Mercy suddenly stopped moving and the music hit a slow point at the same time, changing the mood slightly from rough to heart pounding drum like.

" _What are you doing?! You're going to get us caught!_ "

" _If you think you can do a better job, then do it._ " Her tone was level but commanding.

" _What?!_ "

Something in the air shifted as all of the lights turned out. The music was still playing but it was becoming harder to hear as I felt something push me. I felt myself being pushed to the front almost and I could suddenly feel my hands and legs again. But it wasn't my body...

"Mercy?" I said out loud, which startled me.

" _Dance_." She said simply as my skin tingled. The air grew thicker as the blue and purple lights flooded the stage. The music shifted again and the thick industrial sound seemed to call to me. Without thinking about what I was doing, I stepped forward and grabbed the pole in front of me that Mercy had avoided.

The words to the song were like a deep longing whispered in the darkness to a lover and I found myself become lost in the music and the words. I pulled myself up and spun on the pole, making the teddy flutter. I briefly noticed that it was black and not white anymore...but it seemed unimportant. I felt Mercy distantly in the back of my mind as I danced, her silence a welcomed gift. Yet I could feel her pushing at me.

At first I didn't notice it, but the more I danced the stronger the sensation became. Thoughts of Dante filled my mind, our short encounters, the smell of him...the feel of his energy as he let me draw it from him.

And then I realized I wasn't dancing to blend in with humans or even to show up Mercy...

I was dancing for Dante...

* * *

Dante watched the stage with his full attention as Mercy stepped onto the stage wearing a very see through white teddy. With her long wavy white hair and beautiful white wings, she was every man's wet dream...if they dreamed of angels.

At first her thought maybe this was her way of trying to be supportive... In a weird, Mercy like way, but as she slow danced gracefully to the heavy metal music he thought maybe she just lost her mind. A quick glance at his brother though proved he was just as surprised.

Well, if 'surprised' was the right word. Vergil's face was a mix of love, shock and desire. It was the first time in a long time he saw so much emotion on his face. If he were honest, he was a little jelous.

Dante waved the bartender for another shot and threw it back quickly as he turned to watch his brother's wife attempt a strip tease. The fact that she had herself announced as Alice was a little heartbreaking but, Mercy was always a little hard to read when it came to some of the things she did.

And then the music changed and the lights cut out...

"Huh, must be over. I gotta say bro, as sexy as your wife is, if she's practicing for the bedroom you might want to help her understand music rhythm." Dante snickered as he whispered.

Vergil shot him a nasty look before looking back to the stage. If looks could kill, Dante was sure he'd be minced into small pieces right about now. The lights slowly came back on and Mercy was still standing there, perfectly still as a new song started playing. It was actually one of his favorites if he was honest with himself.

The air grew heavier and Dante felt the prickle of demonic energy shift in the air. Suddenly alert, he sat up a little straighter as he watched Mercy's body slowly shift to look like Alice...

"What...?" Dante whispered as he watched Mercy's hair shorten and turn a deep red color. Her eyes slowly slipped from blue to deep gold and the white teddy bled into a scandalous looking black lacey one. Even her white booty shorts were now black with little red bows on her hips. Even Mercy's wings were gone, and when she turned to spin he could clearly see the long black feathered angel wings that looked to be tattooed.

Mercy—Alice—gripped the stripper pole and pulled herself up into a spin. She extended her leg as she whipped her head around, causing more momentum. Her movements were sexy and lustful, like she wasn't dancing for a few poor drunken souls at a strip club; but for someone specifically.

The air was so thick that he swallowed hard. He had the urge to leave his seat and run to the stage. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and kiss her until she moaned in that haughty tone he'd only heard once. He wanted it to be her so badly...

And yet he knew it wasn't her, she was gone...wasn't she?

The more he watched the harder it became to sit on the bar stool. Her movements were so different from Mercy's that he was completely convinced that it was Alice on that stage. He fought to stay seated, he really did, but he just couldn't anymore.

Risking the wrath of his brother and possibly getting slapped by Mercy, Dante found himself walking in a haze towards the stage. It wasn't until he was on the stage and reached a hand out to touch her shoulder that she stopped and looked at him.

Her gold eyes seemed so alive and so focused on him that his heart gave a hopeful, pained thump.

"Dante?" She whispered and the moment he heard her voice, he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her deeply. She melted into it almost immediately and it didn't matter that he was probably making a huge mistake or that he could hear his brother's quick foot steps coming towards them

All that mattered was her.


	27. Cuffed

Something cold snaked around my wrist and clicked in place. A feeling of cold, hard separation spread through me and I felt like I was falling. The chill was immense, cutting through my core and straight into my bones. A second click sounded followed by a smacking sound and the falling sensation suddenly stopped. Yanked backwards into the bright lights of the stage, I blinked rapidly at Dante who was holding his jaw. A trickle of blood smeared at the corner of his mouth as Vergil's face was on fire with anger fist cocking back to swing at him once more.

"W-what just happened?" I said breathily. My head swimming as I staggered. The floor was moving and I couldn't seem to keep my balance anymore.

"If you ever..." Vergil growled as Dante's arm slipped around my waist to support me. Something tugged on my wrist and I realized I had some kind of shinny mental attached to me...handcuffs?

"Vergil." Said Mercy as she stepped from behind me. She was in the white teddy still, her wings stretching slightly before settling. She placed one hand on Vergil's arm that slowly lowered from its cocked position, his fist shifting with a tremor. He seemed to gain a little composure and managed to step away from us.

My vision blurred as I leaned a little more into Dante, I felt weak and shaky. How the hell was I in a body again? I felt my neck and realized I wasn't wearing the collar anymore.

Dante shifted to support my weight and tugged his other hand that was cuffed to mine. "Mercy, I'm not exactly sure what is going on...but..." He grinned as he glanced at me and for some stupid reason my face suddenly felt hot and I had to look away. I felt...nervous? Embarrassed? Shy?

"She's okay for now. She's able to hold her form because the cuffs were modified to transfer energy. A loop if you will, where your energy is supporting her. It helps that you have transferred your energies so much. It's not a permanent solution, but she's in the physical plane where we can do something now." Mercy smiled warmly as she looked me over.

"How...?" I grumbled as I leaned harder on Dante, my vision seemed to be fading quickly and I couldn't seem to keep my eyes open. I felt so...exhausted.

"Do not worry Alice, I will explain later. Right now we must get you home." Mercy nodded to Dante who, without a word, bent to slide his arm under my legs and pick me up. I blinked at him slowly as his face suddenly seemed too close. I looked back to Vergil and Mercy. From what I could tell Vergil was refusing to look at anyone and Mercy was smiling away like she had planned all of this.

That...

Sneaky...

Little...

* * *

"Man bro, did you have to hit me so hard? I could have lost teeth from that punch." Dante teased as they walked back to the shop. He couldn't seem to stop grinning. With a passed out Alice in his arms as he walked, he could feel his energy being gently pulled from him through his wrist. The cuffs were the same ones he had used on her before, and he was curious just how exactly Mercy and his brother had managed to figure out a way to bring her back into existence.

He'd be lying though if he didn't admit he was still pissed off at her too. She may be the heart and soul of his recent infatuation, but she still attempted to slaughter his family.

"You deserved it." Vergil said through gritted teeth.

"Hey, I was kissing her," Dante said motioning to Alice in his arms. He'd managed to convince his brother to loan him his coat to wrap around Alice as she was still clothed...in a very sexy lingerie set...

How one woman could make him horny as fuck and pissed off as fuck, he'd never know. It was really starting to become a problem.

"He's right Vergil. I was too preoccupied with making sure she separated from me completely." Mercy added as she walked beside Vergil, "It was good that he triggered such an emotional response from her. Without his action, she would still be sharing my mind."

Vergil glanced at her and huffed slightly as he fell into silence. Dante snickered and nudged his brother, "Yeah, see? You needed an emotional response. It's not my fault she was in Mercy's body."

Vergil snapped his eyes to Dante with the fires of hell burning in his eyes. Before he could do anything however, Mercy slipped her arm through his and he visibly relaxed. Dante held back his snicker but barely. The effort made Alice shift in his arms and bury her face into his chest. The motion made him pause for a moment as he looked at her sleeping face. He wasn't sure what they were going to do now...or even where they should go from here. But somehow, he felt more complete with her touching him...

Holy shit...he was turning into a mushy sap.

Dante looked up, trying to keep his composure but felt eyes on him. He looked over and noticed Mercy was watching him with her bright blue focused eyes and she smiled. It was a smile that was worth a thousand words.

Dante felt his heart pick up slightly, feeling like she was seeing into his soul and she smiled wider. For all of his playfulness, his sarcasm and his impeccable ability to hide behind the childlike mask his brother hated so much; Mercy knew better.

Which was a very scary fucking thought.

 


	28. Torture

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies for this taking a little longer to post than normal. I had to do some serious thinking. 
> 
> With that being said, fair warning, this starts out awesome and ends horrifically. So be sure you have your favorite drink and maybe something to cuddle.
> 
> Also, if you have a request for a fic, please check out my Open Special Request work for details and requests I've fulfilled. 
> 
> Thanks for your continued support!

I woke up slowly to the sound of the city outside busy with life and steady, deep breathing in my ear. It was soothing, comfortable and I really didn't want to open my eyes. I wanted to lay here and sleep forever. And then I realized that someone was holding me...

I jerked awake and tried to sit up, but the arm around my waist tightened and I let out a small squeak of surprise as it held me still. It was a very girly sound and it startled me more that it came from me. Looking behind me I saw Dante in the low light of the room, which was trickling through the blinds of his window. His massive broad chest was exposed and I had the distinct feeling that he was naked.

"Well good morning, Sexy." His grin was playful with his eyes half open.

"What are you doing?" I meant to sound more angry, but I felt incredibly nervous for some reason. Dante chuckled and shrugged, his muscled shoulder rolling slightly.

"Well I was sleeping, but you ruined that when you tried to get up." He brought his hand up to run it through his hair and something on my wrist tugged as he did. Blinking I stared at the cuffs around our wrists. Glaring, I pulled my arm to myself and in the process yanked his hand away from his incredibly messy hair.

"Hey—" He began and I growled, cutting him off.

"Why the hell am I cuffed to you?" I wiggled my hand, rattling the chain of the cuffs.

Dante smiled lopsidedly, which was cute and kind of sexy at the same time. I involuntarily pulled back away from him. I breathed a little easier when he didn't fight me.

"Ah that. Well, Mercy and Vergil apparently had been planning to get you removed from Mercy. Something about you bein' in her head." He tapped his temple a couple of times and I groaned.

"That doesn't answer the question. Why am I cuffed to you?"

"Because the cuffs pull my energy from me into you so you will stay in the physical world."

I frowned as I looked at the cuffs. They were made out of the Divine metal, with angelic script carved in Mercy's clear writing. I could practically feel the steady flow of Dante's energy being pulled into me. It felt like a life line, solid and warm. I could feel Dante's eyes on me as I stared at it. His gaze was intense, it there was also something else. His energy was mixed with a slow brewing nervousness. Looking at him, his face looked its normal playfully, almost mischievous, self and yet...

His emotions felt confused. Loniness, nervousness, desire and...something else. A feeling of wanting. Like he'd been denying himself what he really wanted because he felt that's what he should do, what he needed to do in order to maintain some kind of sanity. From being inside Mercy's head for so long, I could see how Dante and Vergil were the same person practically, just different ways of keeping themselves whole.

They were...broken.

Vergil not so much because he had Mercy. But Dante, he repeatedly lied to himself in order to just get out of bed in the morning.

"Alice? You okay?" Dante asked, slightly concerned. I focused my eyes on him and really looked into his eyes. I don't know why, but I wanted to ease that self denied pain. I wanted him to know that I...cared...that deep down, I didn't want to hurt him or his family. I just wanted what Mercy had. I wanted someone to love me. All of me. Treat me like I mattered. Ever since I was balled up and pushed out of the angel's being I felt thrown away.

I carefully brought my hands up to caress his face. It was prickly and rough because he hadn't shaved in who knew how long. Dante stilled under my touch and I felt his surprise in the energy that flowed from the cuffs into me. It had been a while since I'd seen him, since he had avoided Mercy and I refused to look at him when he was around. Now that he was in front of me and there was no where to go, I had to look. He looked tired, sad and a little angry. Like his emotions didn't know what emotion to feel first or more of.

"Alic—" He said, moving to pull away from me, but I held him still.

"Dante..." I whispered, there was a lump in my throat. Since I'd met him, there just was something about him that called to me. I didn't know why, maybe it was because he didn't make me feel so lonely. Maybe because it was how focused he was when he looked at me. Maybe it was because he was kind of a teasing bastard and I liked it. Whatever it was, I felt drawn to him. Right down to his ridiculous bunny slippers.

Slowly I brought my lips to his and kissed him. He didn't respond at first, but as I slipped my uncuffed hand down and back to run my finger tips through his soft, messy white hair; I felt his body shutter. Hesitant but willing, he kissed me back. His tongue slipped passed my lips and teased my own and I wasn't able to stop the moan that escaped.

His free hand slid around my waist and I faintly realized I was wearing the outfit from the strip club. The sheer lace tickled my skin as he slipped it up my hip and rubbed his large hand up my side. My breath caught as he found a sensitive spot and he growled softly as he kissed me deeper. I pulled our cuffed hands down to trace my fingertips along his heavily muscled side to his bare hip. I was almost relieved when I felt the waist band of his boxers a little lower than I thought they'd be. However, it made my next move trickier.

Dante pulled me closer, which allowed me to better maneuver my hand and slip it down the front of his boxers. This time his breath caught as I wrapped my hand around his swollen shaft, his own hand that was cuffed to mine resting on top of my hand. He was trying so hard not to tighten his hand around mine, neither forcing or demanding. I teased the tip of him with my thumb and a deep groan eased out of his mouth. I nibbled his bottom lip, causing him to thrust into my hand and his free hand on my hip tightened.

His energy had spiked high, a deep longing filling my mind as I continued to touch and feel with my hand. His body was so strong and full, not lean like Vergil...but more complete somehow. I kissed his jawline and let my tongue trail down his neck as I moved my hand along his shaft. His breathing had picked up, panting as I felt to instinctively pull his energy into me.

I wanted to pull all that pain out of him and take it awake. I wanted to make him mine. It felt possessive and there was a brief flash of Tina's memories that had me going from gently pulling his energy to yanking it out of him.

Dante's body locked, every muscle tightening to the point where his body was shaking. His eyes looked too wide and his skin too tight, and I could stop myself from pulling more of his energy. The flash of him and Tina....

It broke something inside of me and a brutal slam of repressed memories had me screaming.

* * *

My arms were tied high above my head as I hung from the ceiling. I'd been hanging for a while now, or I thought I had. Time had no meaning in Hell. It was an illusion here. A fragile and fleeting thing made up of memories and pain.

So much pain...

"I see you're awake my sweet." Mundus's deep voice rumbled off the stone walls and seemed to rattle my body. I was covered in thousands of cuts that were still bleeding. Every time one managed to heal, he cut me a thousand more times while he laughed. He finally stopped after I stopped screaming when he cut me. I was too weak to care. Death would be a reprieve compare to this.

I didn't bother to look at him, instead I kept my eyes and head down and focused on the dirty, blood covered floor below me. My blood had made some interesting patterns in the dirt—almost looked like a certain angel with her wings fully extended.

A hard hand grabbed my hair and yanked my head back exposing my neck and forcing me to look at Mundus. His hard muscled body and beautiful form were completely perfect, aside from his red eyes glowing in the dim light of the room.

"It's a shame you were tainted. But do not worry, I've just about cured you of it." His smile was too wide and too predatory. It looked wrong and if I could of had the energy to spit in his face, I would have.

He laughed, maybe because my face clearly said what my mouth couldn't.

"My trophy used to look at me with that same look. Disgust, hatred, horror... I've missed it. Your face is completely her's, except for this stupid red hair and the childish impression of wings marking your back." His finger traced little marks into my bloody marred skin and I groaned from the pain. He stopped a moment later and licked the cool blood off his fingers as he watched me.

"There's only one more thing to do to cleanse you so you can still be useful to me." His voice dropped deeper as he let go of my head. I heard the shifting of clothing and the sound seemed to stir something in my brain. My eyes slowly shifted and I saw him untie the sash that he had around his waist holding his pants up.

Suddenly more alert, I tried to kick him, forcing my broken and bruised body to try and get away. It was pointless as his hand gripped my cut body, making me scream as he stepped behind me.

I half knew what was coming, but my brain was still denying that it could happen. His hand tightened around my neck as he disappear completely behind me and his other hand gripped my hip. He leaned over to whisper in my ear as I felt his hard shaft align up against my opening.

"I'm going to fuck you till you can't remember who you are. Till the name of Sparda's idiot son has been pushed from your memory. I'm going to cleanse you body and soul."

I whimpered as tears rolled down my eyes, as I continued to try and get away. It was in vain and in the next moment I screamed. Maybe in appology. Perhaps in the dire situation I found myself in. Or just because I thought if I screamed loud enough, he'd somehow hear me.

"DANTE!"

Mundus laughed as he plunged himself into me deeply, ripping and tearing me apart and laughing more when my screams of panic became screams of horror. It didn't matter if I ever saw Dante again, after this...I was more 'tainted' than before.


	29. Trigger

I came back to myself, still screaming as I thrashed and kicked. Cold, hard hands gripped my arms as I caught a brief glimpse of Dante. His face had sunken in and his jaw was locked in an open, silent scream. He was so pale, practically a ghost of his former self. I could feel his energy beginning to fade and I tried to push back what I had taken but for some reason I couldn't.

My eyes stung with tears and suddenly I was screaming for a different reason.

"Dante!? Dante—!"

"Shut up!" Said a cold voice as they shook my arms. My eyes whipped around to try and find who was holding me and I was met with Vergil's icy eyes. Mercy suddenly was there, her eyes glowing a faint blue as she grabbed Dante's arm. Yanking it upward, she exposed our cuffed hands and whispered something I couldn't catch over my sobs. The angelic script on the cuffs glowed a bright yellow and I felt all of Dante's energy I'd pulled into myself, be forced backwards.

It was so harsh and so quick, I gagged between my sobs and a second later Dante took a ragged breath. His eyes were wild and the moment they landed on me I shrunk away from him. I didn't want him to look at me, let alone touch me. The feel of Mundus's hands on me was still too real.

"Shit! Mercy move!" Vergil yelled as he pulled Mercy back just in time as Dante's devil trigger form suddenly erupted. The air in the room became electric and he screamed, lunging off the bed and dragging me with him. I cried out as my arm felt like it was going to dislocate. Dante growled lowly, a demonic howl almost, as his eyes darted around the room. I half sat, half laid on the ground with my hand still cuffed to his. His demonic claws were long, his hands clenching into fists repeatedly as Mercy slowly approached him with her hands up.

"Dante...you must be calm." Her voice was gentle, her simple night gown fluttering around her bare feet. Her wings were poised though, ready to take to the air if needed. Vergil stood slightly behind and to her side, sword drawn and wearing nothing but a pair of sleep pants.

Dante's chest was rising and falling with ragged breaths as he stared at Mercy. His eyes glowing so bright, their red looked like they were on fire. The reversed energy flow had my head spinning and when he snarled at Mercy, taking a quick step towards her, I dry heaved. The feeling was sickening and my vision swam as Mercy held her ground, Dante dragging me as he took another step.

"Dante, please. You must calm down." She tried again and Vergil side stepped slightly to flank his brother.

Dante roared, the sound rattling the walls and building. His free hand, fisted and deadly, lashed out and put a hole through the wall directly into Vergil and Mercy's room.

Mercy kept her eyes on Dante, "Alice...you must get Dante to calm down."

I whimpered slightly, trying to hold back the pathetic sob that wanted to be voiced, "I can't..." I whispered. I felt like passing out as I hung limply from our cuffed hands.

"You must, he is upset. He will not listen to me. Please Alice, you must try." Dante roared again and took another quick step towards Mercy. She continued to hold her ground and motioned to Vergil to wait. His face was hard as stone, but he didn't move. Carefully waiting for his wife's signal.

"D-Dante..." I whispered, I swallowed hard as I tried to force myself to be louder. "Dante...I'm fine. Please. I'm okay now."

The room grew deathly quiet as I stared up at his demonic face. His attention had shifted to me, his face unreadable as he stared back at me. The energy in the room seemed to drop and that stupid sob I'd been trying to hold back came out.

"P-please...Dante."

Something shifted behind his red glowing eyes and in the next second his devil trigger form was gone. He collapsed on the ground next to me, passed out cold on the hard wood floor. Mercy appeared above me as Vergil checked on his brother. Her face was so pained and sad that it hurt to look at her. Instead I curled up into a ball and held my legs with my free arm.

"Alice..." She said softly and I shook my head.

"Don't. Just...don't. Take these cuffs off." My voice was hoarse from screaming and crying, but I did my best to sound normal. Mercy frowned and shook her head.

"If I take them off you will become a roaming shadow again. You will be hidden from the physical world with no way to interact with—"

"I DON'T CARE!" I screamed.

I didn't know if I was shaking from anger or from the energy reversal, but it didn't matter.

"I'd rather be a ghost than to fucking deal with this anymore! This is your fault! I wouldn't exist if you would have just taken me back like you were supposed to! I don't want to be here anymore! TAKE THEM OFF!"

Mercy closed her eyes for a moment, a look of deep pain on her face as she shook her head. "Alice—"

I didn't want to hear it anymore. I didn't want to hurt anymore. And I didn't want to fucking hurt anyone, especially Dante, anymore. Mundus won, he broke me.

Without thinking I grabbed Mercy's arm and yanked her energy as hard as I could. The sudden pull made her scream as well as jolt Dante awake. He screamed with her, as I drew her energy in as it was pulled quickly to Dante. The energy built fast and when the back wash had no where else to go but back to the source, I focused all my energy on channeling it to breaking the cuffs.

The divine metal glowed white hot as Vergil leaped to pry my hand off of Mercy, but it was too late. With a loud snap, the cuffs broke and I felt myself fall into darkness.

* * *

There's an old saying, sometimes you have to take five steps back to take ten steps forward...or some such bullshit.

In reality, it's more like you have to cut yourself out of the physical plane in order to try and cope with the fact that you, the fucked up, unwanted person you are—is more broken than you originally thought.

After I cut off my life line to Dante, I found myself wandering around Limbo city. I was a shadow again, a mere ghost of memory and half remembered emotions. I was so detached from the physical that I found myself walking a cracked side walk, with no direction.

I was lost again.

Lonely.

And I would get flashes of things. Memories, old ones of blood and war and new ones of lust and yearning. Of pain and torture; of understanding and sorrow. I walked for a long time, reliving these memories in brief moments of pained emotion until I found myself in front of a three story apartment building that looked vaguely familiar. It was quiet and homey looking.

I stood outside for a long time before I finally made up my mind to go inside. There was something about the place that seemed so familiar. Like I'd been here before. Without realizing it, I found myself on the top floor in front of a corner apartment. I slipped through the crack under the door and came face to face with a tall blonde who was staring at me.

I blinked at her as she raised a careful brow, arms crossed over her large chest. Did she...see me? No one had seen me before...no that wasn't right. I had been seen before...I thought.

Fuck my mind was a mess.

The blonde woman snorted and shook her head, "You are in some serious deep shit Alice."

Alice?


	30. Choosing

"Who the hell is Alice?" I frowned, I didn't like this blonde bimbo. Huh...bimbo. That was a fun word out of no where and I snickered.

The blonde rolled her eyes and shook her head, "I can't hear you," then she whispered, "thank god."

I growled and turned to slip back under the door. Whatever stupid reason I had for coming here in the first place had been replaced with irritation.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Her voice was sarcastic and I turned, suddenly in front of her and inches from her face.

"Listen here, bimbo, I don't like you and you don't like me. I'm not even sure how the fuck you can see me. I don't know how I got here or why I'm here, but you can go to hell!" I snarled in her face, waving my arms around as I yelled. She merely looked at me with that stupidly cocked eye brow and waited for me to finish.

"Again, can't hear you. However, if you were wondering about how I can see you it's because of this." She uncrossed her arms and tapped a ring on her finger. The metal was tarnished and banged up.

I frowned as I looked at it, it looked kind of familiar.

"Alice, do you remember who I am?" She asked seriously and I shifted my focus to her face. She did look familiar. I tried to dig through my memories and after what seemed like an exceedingly long time I finally remembered her name.

"Trish."

"Good." She nodded as she looked me over slowly before looking at me directly again. "You look exactly like Mercy. But I know it's you. You actually look like her doppelgänger."

I tensed slightly as she said the last word and she chuckled, "You hate that term I know. Mercy hated being called an angel for a long time."

"I don't know who Mercy is and I really don't care." I snorted and side stepped to walk around her. If she was going to keep talking I'd do some snooping. Something drew me here and I wanted to find out what it was.

Trish followed me as I slipped through cracks in doors and shifted through the shadows of the room. There were a lot of pictures of her and some other woman... A shorter one with short black hair and bi-colored eyes. She wasn't really smiling in any of the pictures, but her eyes looked happy.

"Alice—"

"I wish you'd stop calling me that—"

"Do you remember Dante—?" She questioned.

"Who?" I said, ignoring her mostly. There was a group picture of three men who all looked very similar, with white hair. One was younger than the other two, who looked older. However, between the two older ones, one looked irritated to be there and the other grinned as he saluted the camera. They were all standing outside a run down building with a half obscured sign above them.

"Dante." Trish said, coming up next to me and pointing to the man saluting in the picture.

"He looks familiar. I remember him...I think." Which was true, I felt funny when I looked at him. Like I knew how he smelled and the warmth of his hands...

Trish sighed and crossed her arms as she watched me.

"You know, I have every reason to let you rot in the shadow space. You dislocated my arm and beat up my lover—"

I looked at her and smirked, "Did you deserve it?"

"—Ruined Kyrie and Nero's wedding, and just about killed my friends." She continued, ignoring the fact that I had even spoken.

"So?" I said, already tired of this conversation.

"But, despite all your bullshit and the hell you've caused, I think you really didn't have much choice in how things have turned out. Maybe if you had a chance to choose, you'd do things differently." Trish said thoughtfully.

I stared at her for so long, I thought maybe I'd forgotten how to blink. Things I remembered, however fleeting they were, we're not good really. There was a lot of fear that coated almost everything. And where there was no fear, there was the knowledge that the fear would be back. I glanced at the photo of the three men standing together and focused solely on the one she had called Dante. He seemed so familiar and the more I looked at him, the more I almost remembered who he was.

"How about we let you choose for once instead of someone deciding for you?"

I looked back at her and she smiled, it was small but sincere. I huffed and crossed my own arms as I looked at her.

"I still think you're a bimbo," I said glancing back to the photo one more time, "but okay."

* * *

"This is stupid." I grumbled from the passenger seat of Trish's car. She wasn't looking at me, so it was now surprise she didn't notice I was speaking.

Her grand plan was to take me to a place called Devil May Cry. The building in which the three men had taken a picture in front of. Trish's idea was that she would take me there. She didn't say why or how it was important, but just that I needed to see for myself. Whatever that meant.

The trip was surprisingly short, though she drove like a bat out of hell and I was pretty sure that if I did have a body I'd be sweeting, but since I didn't I found it almost relaxing. The buildings passed by us quickly and the night was chilly, yet beautiful with the streets lit up.

As we pulled up in front of the building, the bright neon sign flickered slightly with the words 'Devil May Cry'. Trish turned off the car and turned to me, drawing my attention to her.

"Give me your hand." She said and I rolled my eyes. It's not like she could actually touch me or I could touch anything. I did what she asked and helped out my hand with a huff.

Trish took off the tarnished ring she had on her finger and held it over my open hand. The moment she dropped it, I thought it would just fall through, but it didn't. It landed in my hand, completely solid and I instinctively closed my hand around it.

"That ring was made out of a piece of Mercy's old harness. I managed to dig through some old texts and find some angelic script regarding the shadow space. Apparently it's rare that an angel forces part of their soul out of their bodies, but it did happen often enough for it to be documented."

"Uh..." I said stupidly as she continued.

"I inscribed it to see into the shadow space. But I also inscribed it to give a Shadow solid form if freely given to one and if they choose to wear it." Trish smiled, still looking where I was sitting, but I had the feeling she couldn't see me anymore.

"If I choose?" I asked, frowning as I looked at the small ring. She couldn't hear me and started the car again.

"Good luck Alice. Oh, and for the record," she grinned wickedly in my direction, "you've got a lot of pay back coming your way for ripping my arm out of its socket."

* * *

After the weird ass goodbye from Trish, I found myself standing outside the doors of the building. The double doors seemed familiar and I had the distinct feeling that I was home.

I shrugged off the feeling and slipped between the crack of the door. Surprisingly the ring didn't get caught like I thought it might as I gripped it in my hand. The inside was dark and quiet, the only light coming from the juke box on the far side of the room.

It was odd that it was so quiet, it seemed unusual to me. Like the lights should have been on and music should have been playing. Frowning, I looked at the stairs that lead to the second floor. Shifting though shadows, I quickly found myself at the top and slipped through the crack under the door.

Once I was on the other side I heard the noise of the shower running and...moaning? It almost sounded pained or maybe like an animal and without much thought about what could be making the noises I slipped through the closed door.

Grunts, moans and the sound of running water echoed in the small bathroom, making something in my stomach churn. I stared at the duck covered shower curtain as it shifted and moved of two shadows.

"Oh god...yes! Fuck me harder!" Screamed a woman's voice I didn't recognize.

"Keep it down." Growled a familiar voice as the wet sounds of slapping grew louder.

"I'm going to come! Oh god...Dante!"

"Shhh!" Said the familiar voice again and I felt my hands clench fonts fists.

"Dante?!" I hissed. Neither one could hear me, which pissed me off. That fucking bastard! He's with another woman?! What about me?! Didn't he miss me?! I wasn't even gone that long! Didn't he have feelings for me—!?

Hurt and pissed off, I shoved the ring onto my finger has hard as I could. I'd kick his stupid fucking ass for this! The moment the ring was on, I felt reality shift. Dizzy and light headed, I shoved the feeling down as I grabbed the duck covered shower curtain and yanked it off its hooks.

Water sprayed everywhere as Dante, butt naked with his back toward me and thrusting into some brunette woman, stopped and turned startled at the sudden cold air and noise.

He blinked at me, his white hair wet and dripping water down his face as the woman started yelling, but I didn't care. I glared at Dante, the shower curtain in my hand.

"Uh...Mercy?" Dante said, somewhat confused and I gave him my nastiest smirk.

"Guess again."


	31. Confession

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So for those of you who read the last chapter and thought I'd lost my mind or suddenly decided to take a leap off the deep end—rest assured, this chapter will clear some of that up.
> 
> There _is_ actually a method to my madness...sorta. ^_^

Dante's face paled as he looked at me, his mouth open as if to say something. I didn't give him the chance however as I slapped him hard across the face. With the running water hitting his skin, the slap seemed to echo as I threw the shower curtain down on the floor and stormed out of the bathroom. There was a lot of commotion behind me and the woman was yelling at such a high pitch it was hard to understand her. I didn't really care what she was saying.

Because if she was still there after I came back down stairs, I was going to kill her and then Dante.

The door that lead to the third floor was unlocked like normal and I sprinted up the stairs with one goal in mind. Opening the safe that held the devil arms. There was a lot of noise coming from downstairs and I quickly made my way to the safe.

"Let's see. It's probably something stupid." I grumbled through gritted teeth. I spin the dial around to the series of numbers and heard a faint click as the pins shifted and finally released.

"Fucking moron." The comb was 6969.

The door opened easily and I smirked inside, "Well, well. Look what we have here." I snatched the gauntlets and greaves known as Beowulf. It had been a very long time since I'd seen the demon, let alone in his subdued form. The moment I had them on, the light element of the devil arms vibrated against my skin as I gripped my fists. I kicked the safe door shut, which cracked the wall.

"Time to kick some ass." I growled as I turned to head back down. Just as I took a step, Dante ran up the stairs wearing a pair of boxers and still soaked from head to toe. His white hair was shaggier than the last time I'd seen him, he really needed to cut it.

"Whoa! Whoa! How did you—? Who are—?" He said as he halted a few feet from me. I glared at him and brought my fists up in front of my face, ready to kick his ass.

"Shit up you fucking bastard. I'm going to kick your ass then I'm going to go down there and kick your little girlfriends ass!"

The energy from the gauntlets reacted instantly to my will and in seconds I was punching and kicking with light energy trailing my movements. Dante managed to block and dodge a few of them, but he slipped on a wet spot and ended up falling down. I jumped up and quickly came down, fist raised as bright white light glowed from the gauntlets. He moved so I missed him, only barely and my fist punched through the mat and into the flooring below.

I screamed in anger as I tried to pry my hand loose, my long white hair getting in my way as I struggled.

Dante was up on his feet in a matter of no time and was panting as I screamed in frustrations.

"Hold on—Alice?!" He said as his face showed sudden realization as I struggled for a few moments more. The flooring finally gave way and I stood almost mechanically with my back to him. Slowly I turned to glare at him through the white veil of my too fucking long hair.

"How...could you? I thought—You know what? It doesn't matter. I can't remember a lot of it anyway. But I'm still going to kick your ass regardless. And when I'm done punching you to bits, I'm going to find that fucking little tramp and beat her ass too!"

I felt my vision shift, bleeding to red as I focused all my energy on Dante. There was this horrible feeling in my chest, a mix of anger, grief, sadness and...loss. I had lost something precious to me and I didn't even know it. Any emotion or feelings I thought he had towards me were lies...and that hurt the most.

"Alice—" he spoke as he dodged my attacks or blocked them. "Please—"

"No! I don't want to hear your excuses!"

"What the hell is going on—?" Said a familiar voice as it ran up the stairs. It took me a moment but I recognized him. It was Dante's brother. Ver—something. He stopped, Yamato draw and ready as he stared a little wide eyed at the two of us fighting.

"It's Alice!" Dante yelled as I screamed and threw a ball of electrified light towards Dante's brother. "Stay out of this if you know what's good for you!"

Vergil quickly reacted by jumping away from the light ball as it struck the wall next to the stairs. The wall cracked and groaned as smoke started to rise up from the massive scorched spot.

"Alice!?" His brother said shocked as I turned my attention back on Dante.

"I thought—I felt—I wanted—" I said, my voice shaking with rage as I got ready to lunge at Dante again. His eyes looked pained and I did my best to ignore it.

"Alice I...."

"I loved you, you bastard!" I screamed as I moved, suddenly in front of him and my fist connected with his stomach. I quickly followed with an upper cut and then a spinning back kick that landed squarely on the side of his head. Dante flew backward and hit the wall with a sickening sound.

I felt hot tears run down my face and get lost somewhere in my long hair. The truth of my words stung deep and I wasn't able to stop the sob as my body shook. Dante slowly shifted against the wall he'd landed against, a huge welt on the side of his face and blood trickling from his mouth.

"A-Alice... I'm sorry. It's been so long since you left...I—"

"I wasn't gone for that long." I spat as I heard Dante's brother—Vergil, yes that was his name—walk slightly into my peripheral.

"Two years." Vergil said, drawing my attention fully to him.

"What...?" I whispered as he looked at me with his cold, expressionless face.

"You've been gone for two years. We didn't know where you were or where you had gone. We couldn't find you." His voice was matter of fact and I felt my arms hang limply down at my sides.

Two...years? I had been roaming around in the shadow space for two...fucking...years.

I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, the tears were still running down my face like a waterfall that wouldn't stop.

"Is the tramp gone?" I asked no one in particular. Vergil answered me, "You mean the woman from the shower? Yeah, she left." There was a satisfied tone in his voice as he said it and I finally opened my eyes. I looked down at Beowulf covering my hands and stared at their wolf like appearance. After a moment I shucked them and the greaves off and dropped them unceremoniously on the floor.

"I'm going down stairs. I'm hungry." I said as normal as I could. I was hungry, but mostly I just wanted away from Dante. I turned and walked passed Vergil, who was nice enough the sheath his sword and let me pass.

Maybe there'd still be some left over pizza in the fridge...

And a beer...

I'd never had beer before, but it seemed like the time for one.


	32. Bottles

Dante hovered outside the closed door to the kitchen with his brother, Vergil, watching him from the nearby couch. He was a mess of confusion and half jumbled emotions as he listened to Alice munch down the last of his extra large pepperoni pizza and pop the top on a beer. He wanted to go in there and talk to her, but what could he say?

Seriously, what the fuck _could_ he say?

'Ow, my face hurts.' Was one, which was closely followed by, 'I'm sorry...' Which lead to the most painful one of all, 'You... _loved_...me?'

It had taken a long time to admit to himself that he possibly loved her and longer still to move on. The whole experience had been a learning process for him and surprisingly he'd grown from it. Become a little more serious, a little harder and...just not the same as he'd always been.

Another pop sounded on the other side of the kitchen door as Alice opened another beer. She'd never had a drink two years ago, maybe she changed too.

"You're an idiot." Said Vergil from the couch. Dante looked at him with surprised eye brows and motioned towards the door.

"She suddenly shows up out of nowhere—in the physical plane mind you—while I'm taking a shower with my girlfriend. And you think I'm the idiot? I didn't even do anything!" He half whispered as Alice started singing slightly off key at the top of her lungs.

"NINTEY-NINE BOTTLES OF BEER ON THE WALL! NINETY-NINE BOTTLES OF BEER!"

Vergil raised a careful brow as he crossed his legs with Yamoto balanced on his lap, "Yes, you're the idiot."

"TAKE ONE DOWN—"

"How am I the idiot?!" Dante half whispered, slightly louder to be heard over Alice's rough singing.

"PASS IT AROUND—"

"She's part of Mercy's soul. And Mercy never does anything by half." Vergil stood, Yamoto in his hand as he started towards the stairs. Dante opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted as a beer can hit the door with a loud metallic tink. Vergil hesitated and looked at him for a moment, a smirk on his lips.

"Think about it." He turned and walked up the stairs and Dante was sure he heard his brother say 'moron' right before closing the door.

"NINTEY-EIGHT BOTTLES OF BEER ON THE WALL!" Alice continued and Dante sighed, rubbing his hands over his face and through his half damp shaggy hair. Mercy never does anything by half? What the hell did that mean? Fuck how was he going to explain to Vanessa about Alice?

There's no way he could without some serious repercussions. It was literally no secret that everyone loathed Vanessa. While she was beautiful and sexy, she was also bad tempered, vile and kind of a bitch. He kind of liked that about her. He found that he couldn't be with a super nice girl, it seemed too boring. Though Vanessa was kind of a bitch, he had no idea why no one liked her. Even Mercy, who liked everyone disliked her.

"Why am I comparing them?" He could have kicked himself. It's not like he and Alice had a thing going on anyway. The most they ever did was maybe fool around and that was before...

Dante felt his chest tighten with anger. After Alice disappeared Mercy had tried talking to him about how angry he had become. The problem was, he couldn't tell anyone why because he wanted to talk to Alice. When Mercy reversed the energy flow of the cuffs, it brought all of her memories to him in vivid detail. All the way back to when she first became a conscious shadow living in the dark cell that was Mercy's prison. And of course the most recent of Mundus...

Dante clenched his teeth ad his fists as he tried to calm himself. Alice had gotten all the way down to 'eighty-seven bottles of beer'. Throwing an empty beer can at the closed kitchen door as she cracked open another. Her singing was becoming slightly slurred, but he could tell she was still going strong. Also, if she was on eighty-seven, she'd found his secret stash of beer in the back corner of the cupboard next to the dishwasher.

Alcohol and demon/angel/shadow things did not mix well, especially in large quantities. He should know, it's how his juke box broke the first time.

Just as he was about to open the kitchen door to try and sooth her and possibly get her on the couch, a gentle delicate hand touched his shoulder. Dante jumped and looked behind him.

"Fucking hell! Mercy! You scared the shit out of me!" He said, his hand on his chest as she smiled gently at him.

"Sorry. But I heard singing when I came home. Is everything—?" She asked as she glanced at the kitchen door. She was slightly dirty from her demon hunt. Her hoodie, a neon pink one, had some holes and blood splatter. Her white hair was braided in two long pig tails that was charming on her.

"Not really—" Dante said, only to be interrupted by a look of recognition crossed Mercy's face. She looked back at Dante and blinked.

"Alice?"

"Uh yeah...." Though now he was a bit worried, she'd stopped singing sometime ago.

"But how? We looked everywhere." She said frowning.

"I don't know. But she's pissed at me."

Mercy gave him a very level look that was neither an affirmation or denial of his statement and he felt his shoulders drop.

"So you think I'm an idiot too?" He mumbles and she smiled warmly at him.

"No. I'd never think such a thing. But I do think you are clumsy when it comes to your heart." With that she kissed his cheek in a sisterly way and phased through the kitchen door with Dante staring after her.

* * *

"Alice?"

I looked up at a pig tailed woman who looked really familiar and I giggled. The quickness of drinking that many beers in a short time had left me giddy and fuzzy. I was still angry, but I was more heartbroken than anything.

"Do I know you?" I giggled again as I took a long swig off of a large bottle of hard liquor I'd found stashed behind a box of Twinkies and cans of creamed corn.

The woman sat down carefully next to me at the table, making sure not to disturb my nice pile of beer cans I had.

"Yes, though I expect your time in the shadow space with no anchor has deteriorated your memory. My name is Mercy." She said easily, like we were talking about the weather instead of metaphysics.

"Well niiiiice to meet you Mer." I snickered as I swished the dark amber colors liquid around in the bottle. I looked back to her and then down at my clothes that I hadn't noticed I'd been wearing before.

"Hey..." I said slowly, "Look at that! We could be twins!" I laughed as I pointed from her to me and she smiled gently, nodding.

"Yes." She said simply.

I tugged at the neon pink hoodie covering me and shook my head, "I hate pink, it's too sweet looking. I like black. Oooo, or red, maybe burgundy. Green is nice too—." I rattled on, not really paying attention to what I was saying.

I must have rattled for a while, because when I finally stopped she was frowning.

"Alice, you are upset."

"Hey Mer, why are men pigs?"

"Pigs?" She tilted her head slightly and I pushed the end of my nose up like a snout.

"You know, pigs. Rooting around in another woman's crotch...or maybe that's dogs?"

Mercy blinked, a puzzled look on her face as I laid my head down on the table and sighed.

"I think I was in love...maybe. I don't know. It hurts. Why does it hurt so bad?"

Mercy looked down for a moment, a thoughtful look on her face before she reached over and caressed my head, combing my tangled hair with her fingers soothingly.

"Pain reminds us we are alive. It keeps us moving when we want to give up. It's what comes after pain that is worth living for. And living is never easy."

I chuckled and closed my eyes, I was so tired. I just wanted to sleep. "You got that right." I mumbled as I felt something tingle along my skin. A warm, calming sensation that wrapped around me like a glove as I slipped into the sweet oblivion of sleep.


	33. Hangover

"I don't give a shit if she was the other half of a cheese danish Dante. She can't stay here." Said Vanessa, poking Dante in his chest while he was sitting at his desk with his feet kicked up. It was late afternoon and he was attempting, somewhat horribly, to explain last night. The problem was Vanessa didn't care that Alice was the 'demon' half of Mercy (not that she really believed Mercy was an angel). She didn't care that she had barged in on them having sex in the shower either. What she did care about was the fact that Alice was currently asleep in Nero's old room across the hall from his room.

Why THAT of all things was where she drew the line, he had no fucking idea.

"Babe," he said, trying his best to sound convincing and smooth, "Mercy is like the only thing close to 'family' that she's got."

Vanessa flipped her long dark hair off her shoulder to expose her petite frame and shapely chest. He couldn't help but take a quick glance at her mound of cleavage as she leaned forward. The v-cut top was sinful with its allure and Dante blinked finally looking into her chocolate eyes.

"Dante, I love the fact that you care for some half weirdo. And hey, I even love your family like they were my own." She said sweetly, lifting her leg to straddle his hips. The chair creaked with the added weight and Dante watched as she rubbed her hands up and down his leather coat.

"But, you really need to cut the cord if we are going to start our lives together. Don't you want us to have our own family?" She purred at him as she leaned down closer still and nibbled his bottom lip. Dante knew he should say something, but he felt like he was too wrapped up in how her body felt pressed against his. Honestly, if he closed his eyes and really focused, she almost felt like Alice—.

Dante blinked a few times as Vanessa was now nibbling on his ear and gently moaned into it. Where the fuck had that thought come from?!

The sudden opening of the second floor door was loud and drew both Vanessa and Dante's attention. Alice (though it was hard to tell it was her at first because she was the spitting image of Mercy now), half walked or maybe that was half stumbled down the stairs. She was wearing an oversized band t-shirt he recognized as Nero's that hit her mid thigh. If he was honest, which probably wasn't a good thing to be with his girlfriend straddling him at the moment, it was the sexiest thing he'd seen in ages. Lace was nice, lingerie was sexy in its own way. But all that long white hair in a complete mess and hanging down her mid back with nothing but that shirt...

Oh man, he was so fucked.

Alice blinked at the two of them at his desk and he had to fight the urge to not throw Vanessa off of him, like he was caught doing something he shouldn't. Which was stupid. Alice rolled her eyes and made her way towards the kitchen as Vanessa dislodged herself from his lap and quickly made her way over to Alice. The click clack of her heels were loud and Alice visibly cringed at the sound. Stopping, the two women looked at each other, Vanessa had her arms crossed and legs slightly apart while Alice raised a brow at her with a bored look.

"Hey, thanks for interrupting out anniversary last night. But I would appreciate it if you could keep to yourself and give Dante some space. I'm not one to come between family, but my understanding is that you've been gone for two years. It's none of my business, but that seems like a long time to try and reconnect with your sister."

Okay...so he hadn't exactly explained everything to Vanessa. He might have been a little vague on the details. Alice looked at him, passed Vanessa's shoulder, her face was unreadable and Dante tensed. The air in the room felt thicker as she turned her focus fully on Vanessa. Dante was sure this was going to end badly and he slowly set his feet down on the floor, ready to sprint if necessary.

"I'm sorry, what was your name again?" Alice said, rather bored.

"Vanessa. I'm Dante's girlfriend." She answered, not phased by Alice's tone.

"Ah, Vanessa. Well Vanessa, no offense—but I've been around a lot longer than you and how I choose to interact with my sister is my business. But thank you for your concern. And if you could, could you not talk too much? Your voice is irritating to the point where I'm considering ripping out your voice box." Alice said with a sweet, charming look on her face. Her tone was cute as well, but her eyes were blood shot and pissed off.

Vanessa smirked at Alice as Dante watched the exchange, hands on the arms of his chair and ready to stand in a moments notice.

"Figures a—whatever you are—wouldn't be able to hold her booze." Vanessa said in a kind voice.

Honestly, Dante wasn't sure if it came down to blows, who he should grab first as the biggest threat.

Alice smiled a little wider, not showing teeth but looking calm as she leaned forward slightly into the small space between them.

"It's not the booze. It's your voice and the thirty pounds of perfume you put on to cover up the skank smell." She said, half whispering, "It's not working by the way."

She stood straight again and walked passed Vanessa with a smirk on her face as Vanessa glared at the back of her head. Alice pushed the door to the kitchen open and stepped in, shutting it quietly behind her. Leaving Dante alone with a very pissed off girlfriend.

* * *

"Good morning, Alice." Said Mercy as she stood at the stove making French toast in a frilly apron with flowers on it. I mumbled something half coherent as I sat down at the table. My head was killing me.

"Uh huh."

Vergil, who was sitting at the table opposite of me with a book in front of him and a bowl of fresh cut fruit, glanced at me briefly as I laid my head down face first on the table.

"You drank my brandy." He said, his voice chilly and matter of fact.

I shifted my head so I was looking at him with my chin on the table, "If you want it back you can go find it in the sewer. It doesn't taste as good coming up as it does going down."

Vergil sighed and shook his head, but didn't say anything. Instead I watched as his jaw clenched slightly and he flipped the page of his book. Mercy was being very quiet as she listened to our conversation and I sighed.

"Don't worry. I'll replace it." I said softly, laying my head back down on the table. It was actually nice having long hair. It hid my face very well and blocked out the light from the nearby window.

I heard Vergil shift slightly, but didn't turn my head again to look at him. Mercy stepped away from the stove and set a cup of coffee and a small plate of four pills on it in front of me.

"Take these, they'll help. The grogginess should wear off soon."

I didn't even question her or say anything snarky like I wanted to. Seeing Vanessa on Dante's lap had already set my heart and brain back into last nights painful rhythm. I didn't remember too much after I started drinking the brandy. And I didn't want to either.

"Thanks." I said, grabbing the pills and downing them with the hot bitter coffee. Vergil was watching me carefully as Mercy sat down next to him with a plate full of French toast.

"What?" I asked as I took another sip of the coffee. It might have been bitter, but it was nice at the same time. A taste I missed surprisingly.

"You said thank you." Vergil said as Mercy took a bite of her French toast.

"So?" I raised a brow.

"You've never said thank you before." Mercy chimed in, a smile on her face and I huffed.

Harsh voices, raised and agitated slipped through the closed door. We sat in silence for a moment while it continued. I couldn't tell what everyone else was feeling exactly, but it was clear they both felt the same way.

Vanessa was like a pretty piece of trash walking around, from the look on Vergil's face, I'd hit the nail right on the head. Mercy seemed to want to ignore the rising tension just outside the kitchen.

"Alice, while I am glad to see you once again. I have to ask how you have managed to find form."

Vergil seemed to have his interest peeked as he closed the book he'd been leafing through and watched me.

I looked back and forth between both of them and sighed, "Trish said she used a piece of Mercy's harness to make this." I held up my hand with the small ring encircling my index finger. "Something about shadow space."

"Ah, Trish." Mercy grinned as she took another bite of her French toast.

"You seem to be a bit more coherent this morning. You said last night you were having issues remembering things." Vergil stated, taking a bite of the fruit in front of him.

"Yeah, I seem to be able to remember everyone's name now. But honestly there's still some fuzzy parts." I sipped my coffee slowly, all of us falling back into silence as the heated conversation outside seemed to reach a fever pitch.

"That bitch needs to go!" Vanessa screamed, which was interrupted by a startled noise. It was suddenly eerily quiet and Vergil rolled his eyes the second a deep female moan was heard.

Mercy frowned as she glanced at Vergil who clicked his tongue and looked at me squarely, "Regardless of you being chaos in the form of my wife, I'll take that over that woman any day."

With that he stood and left the kitchen, letting the door slam behind him loudly. There was some muffled noises and the sound of two different doors opening and closing. Mercy and I listened for a moment to the quiet that settled afterwards and I looked at her.

"Was that his way of saying he missed me?"

Mercy chuckled, "Yes. Dante's...girl...is not a very good person. Regardless of all you've done, it can be tracked and understood. Vanessa does things regardless of what anyone says and ends up causing more issues."

"You mean with Dante?" I asked, really only slightly curious. My headache was already starting to go away and I was feeling better. Thank god.

"With all of us." She said frowning at her French toast before looking at me with a more serious than sad look.

"Alice...what happened in Hell?"

It was my turn to frown and I tried to cover it with taking a sip of my cooling coffee. My memory might have been a bit jumbled but I remembered Mundus...just fine.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Would you permit me to see?" She asked and I looked at her with a raised brow.

"See?"

"Yes. I've been able to evolve my energy ability to relive people's thoughts, emotions and memories." She sounded happy instead of proud, which I thought weird. But then again she'd always thought of herself more as a healer. Thinking first about saving what she could instead of letting someone suffer.

"I think that's a very bad idea."

"If it's the torture your concerned about, I have had many years of it." She said assuredly and I almost laughed.

"It's not that." I said bitterly. I just didn't want her to see how pathetic I had been. How...hopeless I was. A flash of memory came to me, remembering screaming Dante's name. It was enough of a jolt that I accidentally broke the mug of coffee I'd been holding. It was pure luck that it was empty and I didn't cut myself.

Mercy frowned and began picking up the bits of ceramic that was once a coffee cup. I couldn't look at her and instea, crossed my arms under my chest as I watched her delicate hands pick up the pieces.

"I just don't... I just don't think you reliving my memories is going to help anything." I said finally as she stood to toss the broken pieces in the trash. The sound of them hitting the bottom of the trash can was loud. Turning she looked at me thoughtfully for a moment and I felt uncomfortable. Though I couldn't explain why.

"Alice, I would like to help you. They say that a burden shared is halved. I believe just understanding what you have gone through and being able to share that with someone makes the pain easier."

I frowned at her. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't want to vent some of my frustration. Or even my fears. But I...I didn't want to be weak. I didn't want to be used again. I already felt like I lost too much trying to run away. Staying and fighting wouldn't help either.

Mercy seemed to sense my reluctance and sat back down at the table next to me. She pushed the half eaten plate of French toast aside and placed both of her hands on the table, palms up.

"Please." She said simply. When I didn't move she smiled at me, "You are part of me and I am part of you. You're secrets are mine to keep as well. I promise not to speak a word of them to anyone."

Raising a brow, I smirked. "That sounds like an oath."

"Yes." She said chuckling, "An old habit, as you well know."

I nodded and looked at her turned up hands before looking at her blue eyes.

"Okay." I said, placing my hands in hers. Who knows? Maybe she was right, sharing a burden and all that. Maybe staying instead of running would change things.

Then again, maybe I was just a rage ball of fucked up chaos walking around in an angel's form.


	34. Training

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big shout out to all the great authors and wonderful fans out there for International Fanworks Day! I had no idea there was such a thing, but that's pretty kick ass! 
> 
> In honor of this wonderful day, a light hearted chapter that hopefully makes you laugh. 
> 
> Happy Valentine's Day as well! Hope you all god something special from your sweeties, and if you didn't... Consider this my Valentine's gift to you. ^_^

I don't know what I expected when I took her hands. Maybe a bright, white light? Or perhaps some kind of feeling like she was reading my memories like a book? Instead, she simply looked into my eyes, the silence stretching on to the point where my nose was itching and I was suddenly very thirsty.

"Uh...what are you doing?" I asked finally, my emotional moment had passed and now I just wanted to shower.

"I'm waiting." Mercy said, her face completely serious.

"For?"

"For you to let me in."

"In?" I asked as I raised a brow at her.

"Yes. While you may have a physical form and still maintain several angelic traits and abilities, you have no inner substance."

"O-Kay. And that means what exactly?" I sighed. That headache was coming back.

"It means as of right now, you have less physical ability than a human. Which is why your consumption affected you so. The strength you drew on last night to break open the devil arms safe and use Beowulf, was lingering in the divine metal of your ring from me." She smiled softly and leaned forward as if to whisper.

"If I were to push too hard to see your memories your mind could break. It is after all an invasion of one's inner being without sacrifice. Though it seems you would understand that if only by instinct with how you helped Tina."

I opened my mouth and then closed it. I wanted to say she was full of shit or that I was struck by a moment of idiocy when I helped Tina. I could barely remember her memories now, only fleeting images and hints of things. I must have forgotten a lot in the last two years of roaming. Mercy held my gaze as we stared at each other and I sighed heavily.

"So what do I need to do?" It seemed like a better question than the other million that screamed for answers.

"Close your eyes."

"Seriously? You're not gonna wet Willy me are you?"

Mercy tilted her head in confusion and I groaned, "Fuck, never mind! Fine. There, my eyes are closed." I said as I did what she asked.

"Good. Now think very carefully of your first memory. Your own memory, not from me."

_I was free..._

_In the human world..._

_They casted the metal aside, discarding me like the idiots they were and when the ancient writing flared with power releasing me... I laughed. It bubbled up from my body..._

_Body?_

_I never had a body before..._

* * *

The next few days passed quickly after Mercy and I's...whatever the fuck it was. And that quickly passed to weeks and then three months later after I had returned to the only home I'd ever really known.

Mostly my days where spent avoiding Dante and his...girlfriend when I could. Which was pretty easy considering Vanessa hated my ass and I loathed her. When I did see them, she would purposefully kiss and grope various parts of Dante in plain view. While I was certain I could take her on and rip her face off, Mercy explained that my solid form was still unstable. If I drew too much on the left over energy stored in the ring, there might be serious consequences.

It was odd, after allowing her to relive all of my memories like fucking quick silver, we had bonded—kind of. That whole 'sister' thing might not have been far from the truth. And true to her word, after she saw everything, she never spoke a word of what she saw to anyone. Including me. I did feel better though, which was a surprise. Who know there was some truth in all that 'burden shared' bullshit.

It was about that time that Mercy and Vergil had wanted me to train. I was kind of excited to be doing something physical again, thinking I'd be able to work out my frustrations about Dante, who seemed like a love at struck puppy and Vanessa, who I was now referring to as 'Queen Skank'. Instead, much to my horror, they wanted me to work on energy transference and sensing.

"Why the hell do you want me to work on that? I'd rather watch tv." I snapped at Vergil.

"Because you are and undisciplined, immoral, incessant pain." He seethed.

We'd been standing in the third floor training room, tossing insults for the last hour while Mercy watched with big blue eyes.

"Yeah, well you're an 'incessant' pain in my ass. Why can't I use a sword or something?!"

"Because you lack focus!" He yelled back.

Personally, I considered it a win every time the vein in his forehead bulged. Even though we were yelling, Mercy let out a giggle. Which drew both of our attention.

"Why are you laughing?!" We both said in unison and suddenly, she was laughing harder. Vergil grumbled as he crossed his arms over his bare chest and I did the same. Mercy laughed harder and suddenly the energy in the room didn't feel so heated.

"You two." She said between her giggle fits and I frowned, Vergil doing the same

"You two...are so similar...in many ways." Her exposed wings shifted as she giggled more and stepped closer to us. She pointed to me, a smile on her face as she got her giggling under better control.

"You like to irritate him because you feel he is more honest when he is angry. Because you have a hard time understanding him. You also think that if you make him mad enough he'll take it out on Dante. Which will make you feel better."

My mouth dropped open, startled by the accuracy of her words. She pointed to Vergil next, as she giggled again.

"He hates that you get under his skin so easily, but it allows him to express himself without worry for hurting your feelings like he does others he cares for. He also knows how upset you are about his brother and thinks you should sleep with Dante to remind him that he cares for you on a deeper level than Vanessa."

Vergil had stopped looking at both of us and I felt my face turn a little red from her last proclamation. Mercy was still giggling, but it was more subdued as she stepped closer to me and put a gentle hand on my shoulder.

"Alice. You were born from my thoughts and memories. You, like myself, are a being of energy. When we die, we all return to a neutral state until we find our next form. But, until then, we are the original masters of energy. Your knowledge is instinct, barely remembered and easily forgotten. To become whole and who you were meant to be, you must learn what you can do. How to control it. It is a weapon, but also a gentle hand to those in need. That is why you must train this ability first to strengthen yourself."

"Man, did you always used to talk this much?" I mumbled, half heartedly.

"No. Before she was a mute. But now she talks all the time." Vergil grumbled next to me as Mercy smiled at him with love in her eyes. He blinked and his faced reddened every so slightly and I laughed.

"Wow...that wasn't obvious at all."

Mercy grinned, "While you get under his skin, I do it a different way."

We both laughed and Vergil rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Can we start the training now?"

"Anything you say Vergie." I snickered.

"Don't. Call. Me. That." He glared daggers at me.

Mercy hummed thoughtfully and smiled at him, her wings fluttering happily, "Vergie. I like it."

Vergil groaned, "How will I survive two of you?"


	35. Revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sibling bonding time....

The walk back down the mountain side was quiet for the most part. The snow storm had settled down from the earlier fight with a massive hoard of Frost Wolves that were threatening a nearby town. It was easy to see why the demons were mistaken for Yetis or even ghosts. Their massive bodies were completely made of clear, frozen ice. What looked like fur, was actually hundreds upon thousands of sharp ice points that were poisonous. If they weren't such viscous bastards, he was sure one would make a kick ass pet.

But Vergil was against even trying to attempt such an awesome idea.

"I'm tellin' you Bro, we could have played fetch with one if you'd just tossed that tree next to you." Dante whined as they walked. The job was done and Lady and Trish were already back at the town collecting their money. Unfortunately, they'd have to walk back because well...Mercy was training with Alice. So no ride or flight time for either of them.

"You're still an idiot." Vergil said, his perfect posture not once slipping as they walked through the fresh powder.

"Damn, I feel like you've been saying that a lot lately." Dante pouted. Mostly he was joking, but when Vergil gave him a leveled look he sighed. So much for joking around.

"Because I have been." Vergil said, focusing back on the path before them.

The two walked in silence for a while before Vergil suddenly stopped. Dante took a few more steps before stopping as well and looked at him.

"What's up?" He said causally.

"Dante," Vergil's voice was colder than the snow as he narrowed his blue eyes at his twin. "Did you think about what I said earlier?"

"Uh...about the Frost Wolf being a stupid pet?" Dante said cheekily.

"No."

Dante chuckled and shrugged his shoulders, "Can't fool you can I?"

Vergil watched him closely and Dante sighed, looking around at the frozen trees and mountains. It was quite beautiful. All that white with hints of darkness from the trees and rocks. Almost hypnotic.

"You're talking about Alice." He said after a moment. He looked back at his brother and gave him a soft smile that was a less than his normal flare.

"I thought you wanted me to grow up?"

"I do."

"Okay, well, I'm trying to do that. I've had the same girlfriend for almost a year and a half now. I've tried to move on. Now that Alice is back, I mean...what do you want me to do? Dump Vanessa after everything and be with Alice?" He hadn't meant to, but by the time he'd finished he was almost yelling from frustration.

Vergil raised a brow as he slowly crossed his arms, "It doesn't matter what I think you should do. Growing up isn't about maturity, though in your case I think you need more of it." Dante chuckled as he looked at him pointedly before continuing, "I think you're forcing yourself to be with Vanessa because you're still angry that Alice almost killed me."

And there it was. The hammer hitting the nail like a lighting bolt of ugly truth. Was he still pissed at Alice for almost killing his brother? Yes...and no. He knew from her memories that she hadn't had a choice and when she finally broke through the mind control she did what she could to save him and Mercy both. He didn't blame her really, it was more like—

"Do you think I don't want you to be with her because she almost killed my wife and myself?" Vergil's words were like ice picks and Dante merely stared at him. What could he say? That it felt like he was betraying his family if he loved Alice? That even though Mundus raped her and broke her mind in order to do his bidding, he was afraid that if he let himself love her, that she'd turn on them again? And if that happened the pain would be worse than death?

It was horrible to say, but Vanessa was a good filler for the void and block for the constant battle with his emotions. He'd avoided it for so long, buried it so deep that he was scared at how possessive he might become. Reliving her memory of rape and torture had been... He couldn't even describe it. He couldn't change it and the fact that for most nights he still heard her in his dreams screaming his name filled him with guilt.

Dante blinked as his brother clasped his shoulder with a solid hand. He hadn't even noticed he'd moved and ended up staring at him a bit stupidity. Vergil smirked at him and that silent understanding of what the other was thinking drifted between them like it always did.

"Yeah, alright." Dante said. For fucks sake, why did he always have to have a bro moment at the weirdest times?

"You know," Dante said as they started walking again. "I think next time we find a hoard of Frost Wolves, we should see about catching one and training it."

"Idiot." Vergil shook his head.

* * *

"Relax. Remember to breathe. If you don't breathe the energy won't flow correctly." Mercy's soft voice was like an annoying whisper in my ear.

The ball of light energy was small, but wavered as my annoyance grew. We'd been working none stop while everyone was gone on a job. I'd slowly pull a small bit of energy from Mercy and hold it inside myself. Once I felt stable with it, I was to draw it out in the form of an energy ball.

It was mentally draining and the last hour had me sweating like a whore in church and a series of scored marks on the far wall from loosing control.

"Easy now." Mercy said as the ball waved again and started vibrating. It was still hovering but it was only going to last so much longer before it zipped off my hand into the wall again.

"Shut up." I said through gritted teeth, it was no use. The damn thing flew off in a wild pattern and hit the wall with a loud bang. If it had had anymore energy in it, it probably would have put a hole in the wall.

"Fuck!" I said with feeling, collapsing on the mat with my arms over my head. The spandex outfit I'd borrowed from Mercy was soaked in sweat, while she looked completely fine in her black hoodie and pajama pants. It took me a moment, but I realized why they were so baggy, they were Vergil's.

"Shouldn't this be getting easier? It was easier before." I huffed.

Mercy hummed thoughtfully as she looked down at me, "It's because you were aided by the Divine metal around your neck before. Among other things, I can generate its own energy."

"Then how come this ring doesn't do that?" I pointed to the ring on my index finger.

"Because it's using all of its energy to keep you fixated in this plane of being. Which is why you looks like me, unlike your previous body. Which was a conjure of Mundus."

I snorted, "Figures. I miss that red hair."

Mercy chuckled and sat down next to me, "It was striking. I could change it back for you if you'd like?"

"Nah. I've gotten kind of used to the length and looking like an old lady." I snickered as Mercy made a face.

"Did you just imply that I'm old?"

I laughed and after a moment she laughed too.

The front door down stairs slammed shut and Mercy smiled wide, "They must be home now."

Before I could even say anything, she phased through the floor out of sight to the main floor.

"Damnit, that's not fair." I grumbled as I sat up and took out the hair tie holding my hair back. I twisted it back up into a messy bun and then slowly stood. "How come I couldn't get that ability? I'd never have to walk again." I mumbled as I made my way to the stairs. I was tired and sore all over. We hadn't even done anything physical, but it felt like I had fought in two major wars.

As I hit the second floor I heard a familiar voice that was too high pitched to be Vergil or Dante. The hair on the back of my neck stood up as I recognized it.

"Goddamnit." I said to myself as I opened the door to the stairs leading down to the main room.

"—seriously, can't you take a little pride in your appearance? You can't expected your man to stay with you for very long if your wearing baggy clothes all the time." Vanessa's voice was like nails on a chalk board. Mercy looked conflicted as she frowned. When Dante was around, Vanessa acted like she was everyone's friend. But when he wasn't, she lived up to her name, Queen Skank just fine.

Vanessa flipped her dark hair back as she chewed on a piece of gum. Her tight fitting dress hugged her body in all the right places and I would have complimented her on it if I didn't already hate her.

"Yo, Queenie, leave her alone." I said as I made my way down the stairs. An essay blew a large bubble with her gum and smirked.

"Well, hello Sloppy Seconds. I see you're living up to your name."

I smirked slowly at her, showing my teeth wickedly. "The only 'sloppy seconds' in this room is you, Vanessa." I said sweetly.

Vanessa clicked her tongue and walked passed me, heading up the stairs. "I just stopped by to wait for Dante. I'll be in his room. Try to keep out of the way."

Before I could snap another come back at her, she disappeared up the stairs with her heels echoing as she went.

"You okay?" I asked as Mercy frowned at the door to the upstairs.

"She's scheming again. I think she is planning on doing something to you."

"Who cares? I'm a good target. You in the other hand, she should know better than to talk trash to you. Vergil isn't with you because you're beautiful or how you dress."

I glared at the door as well and when a Mercy didn't say anything I looked back to her to find her grinning.

"That is the nicest thing you've ever said."

I blinked at her happy face and after a moment, I rolled my eyes to try and cover up the weird feeling in my chest. "Yeah, yeah. I'm turning into a soft wimp."

Mercy laughed and suddenly hugged me, startling me. "Not at all! I'm so happy!"

"Uh, yeah." I felt awkward and not sure what to do with my hands so I patted her head gently. "Okay, okay. Let go. You don't need to be smelling like sweat."

Mercy let go and grinned wider, "I'm going to cook dinner. Vergil and everyone else should be home soon. Why don't you go shower?" Without waiting for a response, she practically skipped to the kitchen.

Alone in the main room I chuckled, this family thing was weird. But it felt...good.


	36. Numbers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thanks to all of you who commented, left Kudos, bookmarked and subscribed! It really means a lot to me and I'm so thankful for all of my readers! ^_^

Since Queen Skank was in Dante's room and Mercy was busy undoubtedly cooking a feast, I decided to take her advice and take a shower. The hot water felt good on my aching body and seemed to smooth over the exhaustion I felt. Since I was being held on the physical plane by the small ring that Trish has given me, I still maintained a complete image of Mercy. Well, all except for her wings.

The black markings in the shape of angelic wings on my back were still present, for the most part. I'd noticed in the last few weeks or so that some of the feathers had started to fade. I felt fine, so I wasn't sure what it meant. Maybe it was because I'd been in the physical plane too long.

I probably could have asked Mercy, but I was still a little leery of our new found bond. I was still jealous over her relationship with Vergil. Which she knew, and yet when he was around she made sure to include me in their conversations. And she never locked lips and rubbed her body up against his like Vanessa did.

I mumbled a few curses under my breath as I grabbed my shampoo and started to wash my hair. It smelled a little different than the normal, more acidic, but I dismissed it. I'd been smelling nothing by sweat for the last few hours. Everything was probably going to smell off.

I rinsed my hair with my eyes closed and tried to focus on the feel of the hot water instead of my irritation about Dante. Since Queenie was here, I'd probably skip out on dinner. The last time everyone was over, despite the uneasiness with Trish and Lady, Vanessa made it a point to cuddle up with him. I knew by the look on her face that she was rubbing his thigh under the table. I managed to ignore it and every other thing she did. Like dropping 'harmless' opinions on Mercy's food. Or how she thought that no one should have weapons at the table.

I sighed as I opened my eyes and finished scrubbing my body and turned off the water. Stepping out in the small steamed up room, I heard the front door open and closed, followed by a shuffling of feet that I knew were Dante, Vergil, Trish and Lady.

"God I really don't want to go down there." I grumbled as I grabbed a nearby towel and wrapped it around myself. I heard the distinct sound of Vanessa's heels on the hardwood as she left Dante's room. The click of her heels was loud and I wanted to yell at her, but I held it in until she opened the door and slipped down stairs.

"Clickity-clack, clicking-clack. Gah! I just want to stab her with those stupid shoes."

Grumbling, I snatched the hand towel off the nearby hanger and wiped the mirror down. I immediately stopped after the first clearing and stared at my reflection...

Or more specifically, my hair...

"The fucking little bitch."

* * *

"Wow Mercy! You really out did yourself!" Dante grinned as he sat down at the kitchen table. It was still a bit too small for all of them to sit around, but they made it work. Vanessa sat to his right, while Mercy, Vergil, Trish and Lady sat to his left. Leaving a single lonely chair between them and Vanessa.

The symbolism wasn't lost on him. He'd already, kind of—in a weird way—to break up with her. Now that he'd made his dicision, he was suddenly noticing little things he hasn't before.

"Yes," Vanessa said as she smiled warmly and pushed a piece of her fried chicken around on her plate, "a little greasy, but it must have taken a while to make."

"Oh. Um, thank you. It didn't take that long." Mercy said softly, taking a bite of her food to hide her frown.

Like that. Those little under handed comments. Holy fuck, how long had that been going on?

Vergil, Trish and Lady all made a face and it didn't slip his notice that Lady was giving him the 'if she doesn't shut up, I'll do it for her' look. Fuck, when he buried shit, he dug it deep.

"So, uh...where's Alice?" Dante asked, trying to change the topic.

"Why does it matter? She's probably still trying to get the stinking sweat off her body." Vanessa said as she rubbed his inner thigh under the table.

There was something about the way she said it that had Dante looking at Mercy. Her brow was furrowed as she kept her eyes on her plate. Yep, something was off.

"So how did the job go baby?" She asked as she continued to push the fried chicken around on her plate.

"Oh uh, fine. I mean it would have been better if Bro would have let me try and catch one of the Frost Wolves for a pet." Dante grinned excitedly, "I've always kind of liked the idea of a dog."

"Really? I mean, they're kind of filthy aren't they? And what the hell is a Frost Wolf?" Vanessa raised a brow. Seriously?! How could anyone not like dogs?! Dante chuckled to cover up his surprise as Vergil answered her.

"I wouldn't say they are filthy. However, the idea of having a ten foot tall ice wolf with poisons spikes seems like a bad idea."

Dante fake pouted, while attempting the kick his brother under the table. He managed to find is mark and was rewarded with a nasty glare from his brother. Dante gave him a simple shrug to say, 'you deserved that, why are you siding with her?'

Vergil gave Dante a sly smirk as Vanessa spoke again, "Posious? Jesus Dante, why would you want such a thing? Aren't demons dangerous? I mean don't you get paid to kill them?"

"Well—" Dante started, only to be interrupted by Mercy.

"We give them peace. Those this cannot be saved or purified of their sins die. But there are those that rise above such things and can be redeemed." She spoke confidently and Vanessa's eyes glinted as she smiled sweetly.

"Sweetie, I can't understand you when you talk like that."

The room grew deadly quiet and Dante blinked. Yeah, okay. So his brother was right. This relationship was a ducking disaster. Well, maybe he hadn't said that, but fuck...

Just as Dante was going to open his mouth the door to the kitchen opened and everyone looked towards it. There in the doorway stood...

"Alice...?"

She smiled wickedly as she propped one slender bare arm up on the door jam and leaned against it. Her curvy body was wrapped in nothing but a towel. Her lips were full and her skin was slightly flushed. With her blue eyes bright and full of mischief, that wasn't what had his mouth hanging open. Thought that was part of it.

Her hair, which was supposed be long and white like Mercy's, fell in soft waves around her shoulders. The light caught her hair just right, accenting its new bright blue color. How her hair was perfectly dried and her skin still looked wet, he didn't know. But what he did know was that the look she was giving him was sexier than the stupid t-shirt she'd wore the day she woke up with a hangover all those months ago.

"Oh, Alice!" Vanessa said with laughter in her voice, "Whatever have you done with your hair?"

The silence in the room stretched on for a moment as everyone either stared or cringed, or in the case of Trish, Vergil and Lady—tried not to laugh. Alice seemed I phased by Vanessa's words as her eyes were still locked into Dante's. He felt his body tense, wanting to get up and go to her and yet staying where he was.

Alice padded on bare feet slowly into the kitchen as she patted Mercy's head as she walked by. It was a very sweet and loving gesture that had Mercy grinning and everyone staring, except for Vanessa.

Dante watched as Alice slipped around behind his chair and rested her hand on the back of it as she towered over Vamessa. Vanessa's face was a moisture of annoyance and anger as she glared at her.

"What?" She snapped as Alice still hadn't said anything.

Alice, whose citrus shampoo was drowning his sense of smell out to the point where he want to smell more of it, smirked. She held up her index finger.

"One, a Frost Wolf is a beautiful creature it its own right. They are vicious, murderous bastards, but they are loyal to their packs. It would make the ideal guard dog."

Dante blinked, unable to take his eyes off her blue hair and shapely body, barely covered by the thing towel.

Vanessa crossed her arms and snort, "Whatever."

"Two," Alice said as she held up her second finger, "I'm going to give you five seconds to get out of this building and never come back. A thank you, if you will, for adding blue hair dye to my shampoo."

"Ha! I'm not leaving, you can't tell me what to do."

"One."

"Dante! Are you just going to sit there like and idiot and let her talk to me that way?!" Vanessa yelled as Dante looked back and forth between both women.

"Uh." He said, well honestly. She was being a bitch so—

"Two." Alice grinned a little wider.

Vanessa stood up, bumping the table slightly as she got in Alice's face.

"So what if I put blue hair dye in your—."

"Three."

"Vanessa," Dante said, he was half curious to see what Alice would do if she didn't leave and frankly, he wanted her gone too.

"Shut up Dante!" She yelled.

Alice leaned forward slightly, "Four."

"Is no one going to do anything about this crazy fucking bitch?" Vanessa continued and this time it was Trish who spoke up.

"Which one?" She asked seriously and for some reason, everyone laughed.

"What—?" Vanessa said, looking surprised.

"Vanessa, we're done." Dante said suddenly, "It's over."

Before Vanessa could say anything, Alice cupped Dante's face and turned his head towards her. In between one breath and the next, her full luscious lips kissed him. Dante looked at her a little wide eyed for a split second before he brought his hands up into her thick blue hair. She teased his lips and immediately teased her back, but she played dirty when she slipped onto his lap and sucked on his bottom lip. He groaned, he couldn't help it.

When she pulled away from him, he swore he felt a little light headed. But Alice grinned at the stupefied look on Vanessa's face.

"Five." She said sweetly, batting her eyes.

Goddamn...


	37. Shut Up

"Dante!"

Let's be honest, Vanessa screaming his name in pure shock and anger was like music to my ears. For added affect to make sure she got my point, I wiggled a little on his lap as I grinned at her. If I hadn't been to Hell, I'd have probably been a bit worried about the evil look in her eye.

And yet, when Dante said with his own mouth that he was done with her and snaked his hand around my hip...

Well that just made my heart take a leap and a little of that ache I'd been feeling dissipated. Not to mention Dante was very happy to have me in a towel on his lap. The bulge in his pants was poking me, rather persistently, in my thigh.

Trish laughed, unable to stop herself as Lady smirked next to her. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Mercy glance at Vergil, who merely shook his head. Good, they were going to stay out of it.

"Sorry, babe—" Dante began, sounding not really sympathetic, but more apologetic than anything.

I shushed him by playing with the semi long hair on his neck, making sure my fingers touched a sensitive spot by his ear. When he visually shuttered, Vanessa pulled her hand back to slap me. I was ready for it. I even leaned forward just a bit to make sure she didn't fuck it up and somehow miss my face. I wanted her to be pissed off. I wanted her to feel how I'd felt for so fucking long...to the point where I wanted to hit her.

A split second before her hand connected with my face a hand reached out and gripped her wrist. The movement was so quick, no one really saw her move but me.

"Don't." Mercy said, her voice holding a slight accent as her eyes burned a soft blue. Vergil sighed loudly as he watched on. Vanessa blinked stupidly at Mercy as she held her hand still.

"Let—!" She started as Mercy gripped her wrist a little harder, making her shut up.

"You're a liar. A thief. And a horrible human being." She said, her accent getting thicker as both Dante and a I stared. It had been a long time since I'd heard that accent, and it definitely wasn't good.

Trish and Lady stopped laughing as Vanessa glare at her. She had more balls than I gave her credit for. Huh, I guess don't judge a book by its cover.

"I don't know what you're—"

"You stole money from the lock box." Mercy declared, her voice seething as her eyes glowed brighter. A quick glance at Vergil didn't give anything away, but the look on Lady's face said it all. She'd had know for a very long time. I felt Dante tense under me and I honestly didn't know what to do or say. This was kind of blowing up my plan at revenge.

Vanessa's face paled slightly, but the scowl didn't go away, "You can't prove shit!"

"Oh, but I can. I saw you. Trish also installed cameras after the first time you stole from us. You also stole the heart of someone we all care for and used that to your advantage. This is our family and you will never, ever be apart of it." Mercy's eyes flashed a deep demonic red, barely speaking English as she finished. By the time she was done, she'd let go of her wrist. It was obvious from the red mark that Mercy was really holding back. All of us looked at Vanessa as she held her wrist. A long moment of silence passed before the click clack of her heels broke it, leaving the kitchen and then out the front door.

"Uh," I said, dumbfounded and perhaps a bit...well shit, I was just down right fucking confused. "What the hell was that?"

Mercy smiled as I looked at her, the scare energy that had been building around her nowhere to be seen as she stood there. "Like I said. Your actions can be tracked, understood. You may destroy things around you, but that is your purpose. Or was your purpose."

"Yeah," Lady said as she sat back down and took a sip of her water, "And while I still hate your doppelgänger ass, I hate that thieving, lying bitch more."

In an odd gesture, she saluted me with her cup as Trish grinned and nodded. "I've been waiting so damn long to see that happen. It was way better than I thought it was going to be."

Vergil smirked as Dante blinked slowly, still trying to take it all in.

"Don't worry, we can re-watch it." He snickered as he motioned towards the small, partially hidden camera on top of the cupboards facing us.

"Well, son of a bitch." I laughed.

* * *

After dinner I went back to Nero's old room, which was now mine. I had spend too much energy trying to make my new blue hair stay dry and look as amazing as possible. The problem was, I had pulled too hard for too long on the small amount of energy I had stored earlier from training. Now I was exhausted and my hair was back to being semi wet and limp again. I felt like I could sleep for the next twenty years and it still wouldn't be enough sleep.

But at least I wouldn't have to listen to Dante and Vanessa screwing anymore. I didn't know where that left us though. I was too exhausted to think too hard about it though.

Pulling on one of Mercy's old night gowns, I began the long, tedious process of brushing my hair. That was really the down fall of long hair. It was bitch as far as upkeep was concerned.

A knock sounded at the door just as I'd finished. I sighed heavily, but got up despite my aching body. I really just wanted to sleep.

"Yeah?" I said tiredly as I opened the door.

Before I could react, warm strong hands cupped my face and drew me into a deep, passionate kiss. I let out a moan as Dante kissed me deeper and my body, regardless of being exhausted, didn't hesitate to push up against him.

My skin felt like it was on fire as he pushed us back into my room and kicked the door shut with his foot. He was wearing a simple black t-shirt and black scoot-doo boxer shorts. His hand slipped around my waist, unintentionally pulling my night gown up higher. It's smooth thin red material rubbing against my skin made me shutter.

Dante pulled back just enough so his mouth was hovering close to mine. We were both panting heavily and I blinked at him. My heart was racing so fast as our eyes locked and he went to step back.

"Fuck, I'm sorry. I just...I had a plan... And then you opened the door...and I—."

His jabbering was so cute, so adorable, that just seeing the man a complete mess standing before me...

"Shut up and kiss me." I panted as I gripped his shirt and brought him back up against me. The motion had us stumble backwards and up against the side of Nero's old dresser. Dante grunted as he braced himself against the side of it and grinned at me. That charming, sexy grin...all for me.

"You got it, Sexy." He said before his mouth found mine again.


	38. Mine

Dante's big elaborate plan to 'talk' to Alice went out the window quicker than a Frost Wolf in the snow. The moment she answered him after he knocked snapped something inside of him and suddenly, all that possessiveness that he'd been trying to push down and ignore came back full force. He was barely able to keep himself from Devil Triggering.

The _other_ part of him was still angry, still...ridden with guilt. The need to touch her, to bury his face in her hair and run his hands over those curves was intense. He managed to pull away, enough to breathe and try to get his composure. He tried to anyway. The moment she told him to shut up and kisser though, all that went out the window.

Vanessa was like a distant memory the moment he kissed her again. He had to brace his arms against the dresser because his hands felt like they were shaking. Her lips were soft, full and she tasted like dark chocolate. A wickedly sweet desert that was made just for him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down closer to her shorter frame. It was rough, demanding almost and he loved it.

And then it happened...

That sweet, yearning moan that he'd missed for over two years and dreamed about. It slipped from her lips and echoed inside of him, vibrating and the _other_ part of him growled in response. He kissed her harder, his arms and hands letting go of the dresser in order to touch her.

They ran along her thin nightgown, lifting it enough to touch the bare skin underneath. She shuddered at his touch, inhaling sharply as he found the sensitive spot on her hip that he remembered. She may have looked exactly like Mercy now, but it didn't matter. She was still Alice, _his_ Alice.

* * *

Oh god, I was going to die.

My heart was beating so fast that I swore it was going to burst out of my chest. It surprised me that it didn't. But not as surprising as how possessive Dante's hands felt. The moment they slipped under my nightgown and touched my skin, they massaged, squeezed and roamed roughly. But it didn't hurt and it didn't scare me like I thought it might after Mundus... Instead I felt safe. His hands were warm, needy but still gentle. His hands had some calloused parts from wielding his sword for so many years.

Dante pulled me harder against him until I could feel the bulge aching through the thin material of his boxers and my panties. The feel made me moan louder and I could feel the growing wetness between my thighs. I wanted him for so long, needed him for so long that I felt my brain turn off and simply get lost in the feel of his body against mine.

He pulled back just enough to kiss down my neck and to the nape, burying his face into my skin and hair. His teeth grazed along my skin gently and I arched against him as I whimpered from want. I let one hand get tangled in his shaggy hair as I let the other slip down between us and grope his hard bulge. It throbbed against my hand, his need etching against my skin in an almost demonic growl.

"Dante..." I moaned heavily, feeling his hands slip my panties down over my ass to expose it. He grabbed it hard with both hands and from one breath and the next, I was up against the side of the dresser with my legs wrapped around his waist.

He shuddered as I gripped his hair and pulled his head back. His eyes were unfocused and glowed a faint red.

"Mine." His voice was rough and deeper than it should have been. For a moment I wasn't sure if I was scared or not. My gut tightened with a mix of want and fear. His nostrils flared as if he could smell it in the air and he pulled back slightly. The glow of his eyes dimmed a little and I knew right then that Dante was still in control. He'd never hurt me, no matter how angry he was.

For some stupid reason, I felt a tear slip out. It slipped down my cheek slowly and Dante focused on it like it was something special. Taking a ragged breath, I went to wipe it away only to hand his hand gently stop me. He held my wrist softly and leaned forward, kissing the wet tear from my face.

It was so...loving that I almost sobbed. I didn't want to cry though, I wanted to kiss him and have him kiss me. I wanted him to be mine and something inside eased with the understanding of what he had said,

Mine.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, kissing him deeply. I let got of all the fear and the worry. I let go of the tight hold I had on my love of him and I felt myself unconsciously reach for his energy. It slipped around his warmth and gently pulled.

A soft wash of emotions, non conflicted and solid filled my body. He loved me. It had taken a long time to realize that's what it was, but he knew it now. He just didn't know what to do. There was so much guilt and anger about what happened to me in Hell. So much that he was afraid to think, to feel.

I let his energy and emotions fill me up and when it peaked and slipped back to him, he groaned heavily. His body tensed as I felt myself answer and quiet his emotions. It felt so complete, so right that when he ripped my panties off and tossed them on the ground I knew I couldn't live without him.

Dante pulled back, breaking our kiss. His eyes burning like red fire as I helped him push his boxers down. Without a word, he brushed the tip against the wet folds between my legs. I closed my eyes and moaned as he slowly pushed inside me. He was so slow, it felt like I'd die from the pleasure.

He growled as he continued to push his long, thick length inside. Once he was all the way in, he pulled out just as slowly. Savoring the feel as I did. We both let out heavy pleasured moans as with with thrust he went a little faster, the constant ebb and flow of energy between us matching the pace.

It wasn't long before he was thrusting hard into my core. His hands gripping my ass to hold me in place as I dug my nails into his shoulders. I could feel my lower belly tighten, steadily building as he pounded into me.

I hurried my face into his shoulder, attempted to keep quiet but he slipped one hand in my hair and gently pulled me back.

"I want to hear...you... See you." He growled softly as our eyes locked.

And then it happened. The sudden hot rush hit me and I came, screaming in passion as he thrusted into me deeply and slowly. He gritted his teeth as he rode out my orgasm and when mine finally started to come down, he increased his pace again. Before I could catch my breath, I came again.

And again...

And again...

Each time he slowed, watching as I withered and bucked against him. Each time I started to come down, he'd increase his thrust. If I thought I was going to die before, I was certain I was going to die now.

Dante leaned his head forward and buried his face into the nape of my neck again as he began thrusting faster and deeper. The energy flow between us was a muddled mix of both pleasure and our emotions to the point where the lines blurred and I didn't know who was feeling what.

He gripped my hips and shifted them slightly, hitting a new angle that had me screaming his name. Just as I came, with one last deep thrust I felt him come inside me. The hot spurt had me trembling as I came harder. He moaned loudly as he tried to thrust deeper inside me.

Dante came so much, that the building pressure had me orgasm again. He growled as he bit into my neck, still trying to thrust deeper. The energy flow trembled as I felt him come again inside me, his body shaking from the sudden push his body forced from him.

Finally, the overflow of sensation slowed and we collapsed on the ground in a heap of sweat and half naked tangled bodies. We were both so exhausted, but that didn't stop either of us from wrapping ourselves up in each others arms before sleep claimed us.


	39. Snowball

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated especially to AutoMattyC. I told you I'd figure out how to work in the Frost Wolf. ^_^

"Easy now." Dante whispered in my ear.

"Shut up, I got this." I muttered.

It had been a month since Vanessa was kicked to the curb, as well as I and Dante's official beginning as a couple. It was strange. After that first night together, something just seemed to click and we were almost inseparable. I learned that I could laugh so hard that milk could come out my nose from Dante's antics. And Dante was smiling, happy and light hearted again.

He'd cut his hair short, highlighting his sharp features and had shaved off the scruff on his face. I on the other hand, decided to keep my hair long and keep dying it blue. Call me crazy, but I thought it looked better on me than the red hair had.

"You're taking too long." He whispered again in my ear. His hot breath tickled the small hairs that had come loose from my messy bun. The mix of his breath and the cold mountain air sent a shiver down my back,

"You've never complained about me taking too long before." I half snickered, holding the net gun level as I eyed our target.

It might have been a half baked plan, but damn it was fun. We'd hiked all the way deep into the mountains, looking for a Frost Wolf. We hadn't told anyone where we were going or what we were doing, which was on the top ten list of Vergil's 'Don't do stupid Shit'.

It had taken hours to get this far. Well, minus the massive snow ball fight with no winner and the 'victory prize' for a game well played being a hot love making session in a nearby cave. Honestly, I'd never been so happy. I still felt the subtle link we'd formed that first night, humming with after glow.

Dante chuckled softly in my ear, careful not to disturb the underbrush we were hiding in. We'd gotten lucky finding a juvenile Frost Wolf, maybe five feet tall, eating a fresh deer carcass. I wasn't sure if it was part of the previous pack that Dante and Vergil had disposed of, but I thought it might be.

Once we'd spotted it, we slowly moved to our current condition and waited. Normally, Frost Wolves could sense nearby body heat, but this one was so wrapped up in its kill that it simply didn't notice us.

I lined the net gun carefully to avoid hitting a snow covered branch and nodded.

"Ready?" I murmured.

"Always, Sexy." He purred into my ear and I grinned.

Just as I was about to pull the trigger, the Frost Wolf lifted its head and turned its head towards our direction and growled. It's deep forest green eyes shimmered as it shifted its stance to full face us. Deer blood dripped from its massive jaws as it curled its lips to show razor sharp teeth. The ice spikes on its back, clear and deadly, raised up fully making it look bigger than it was.

Dante and I stilled as it looked at us.

"Fuck..." Dante barely whispered.

* * *

"Alice—! Wake—up!"

Someone was yelling for me and I felt a distinct slap of fear hit me as the link flared. Snapping open my eyes, I barely sprung to my feet before something grabbed my arm and tugged me backwards off my feet again.

I let out a startled scream as I was tossed high into the air. My limbs flailed around as I tried to twist my body to land on my feet. I wasn't quick enough though and ended up landing on my knees. A second later Dante was there, helping me up.

"What the fuck!?" I hissed, the ache was deep and I knew I'd almost broke something.

Dante opened his mouth to say something but it was immediately drowned out bought a loud roar that shook the ground. Grabbing each other, we both looked as the Frost Wolf lunged at a demonic looking snake with two heads. It towered over the Frost Wolf with its body, the two head working in tandem.

"Huh, you don't see that everyday." Dante said calmly as one of the snake heads spit fire as the other snapped at the Wolf.

"Come on." I said, letting go of Dante and reaching into his coat.

"Wait—now?!" He said surprised and I smirked, pulling Ebony and Ivory from their holsters.

"Seriously, not everything is about sex." I rolled my eyes as Dante pouted at me.

"It should be..."

A sharp yip brought our attention back to the two demons fighting and I took off at a sprint to flank the two headed demonic snake. It's scales were a stare white, meaning it almost blend in with the snowy mountain.

"First one to kill the snake wins!" I yelled, firing a series of shots at its under belly. The Frost Wolf saw an opportunity with the snake as both of its head went to lunge for me. It jumped forward and snapped its jaws around one head of the snake as Dante suddenly appeared by my side, sword in hand and blocking the massive jagged snake fangs.

"You're on!" He yelled, bring his sword back to slash the snake head while I took the opportunity to shoot its other head in its eye that was closest to me.

* * *

"Tell me again why there is a Frost Wolf sleeping on our now, broken couch?" Vergil asked in a cold, yet calm voice.

Well, honestly, he couldn't start yelling once a Mercy laid eyes on our newest guest. The Frost Wolf had been injured in the fight with the two headed snake and it had taken a long time to get us back down the mountain and back to the shop. Mercy had been the only home and the second she saw it, she immediately started helping us. With her help, it was now healed and in a deep sleep after all the food she'd fed it. Now it was passed out on one of the couches in the main office, snoring. It's ice spikes had flattened down its back, creating a smooth look.

Now what we weren't in the mountains and surrounded by snow, it was easier to see its markings. At first glance, it looked like it was pure, uncracked ice. But really it's face, paws and the tips of its ears were heavily frosted in appearance. Giving it an almost cat like look. It even had a frosted tip on its tail.

"Because it's cute?" I said, running my hand gently over its iced form. It was weird, it looked like ice but it was warm just like any other animal.

Vergil huffed as Dante laughed from his desk. We were both covered in snake blood and wet from the snow. Mercy smiled broadly, her blue eyes shinning with excitement.

"They saved it from a Kin-Kai, a two headed demon snake."

Vergil stared at Mercy so hard I thought the vein in his forehead might explode.

"Yes," he said slowly, "And that's wonderful. However, this being a juvenile it's going to get bigger. A lot bigger. We should kill it before it starts killing others."

Mercy frowned as I glared at him, "Hell no we aren't killing it!"

"I agree. This creature is a demon, but it is not below redemption." Mercy said as she scratched behind its massive ear. The wolf huffed a little and leaned into her hand, still asleep.

"I think you're going to lose this battle Bro." Dante grinned from his chair, his feet tossed up on his desk sporting his bunny slippers.

"Yeah Vergie, have a heart! It's a demon dog!" I grinned as a Mercy and ai shared a look.

Vergil shook his head and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I said to not call me that."

Mercy giggled and I laughed as I ran my hand over the wolf's large head, "Looks like we won."

"Yes, but what shall we name it?" Mercy said thoughtfully.

"How about 'Target Practice'?" Vergil snickered as Mercy and I glared at him.

"For your information it's already got a name." I grinned as Dante groaned behind me. Since I was the one with the finishing blow to the demon snake I got to name it, and ai had the perfect one all picked out.

"What?" Asked Mercy.

"Snowball."


	40. Surprises

The day started out like many of the others, which had become the new norm. Dante and I would make love till the wee hours of the morning, sleeping in late. Then it was time to get up and see what the day brought. Mostly the days had been consisting of training our new Frost Wolf, Snowball, into a fierce guard dog. Which was harder than you'd think. Snowball was a hyper, licking machine that barely listened to anyone except Mercy or myself.

She, yes Snowball was a girl, loved to tackle and lick Dante with her freezing tongue. She also, much to Vergil's dismay, loved chewing.

A lot...

And mostly on his shoes...

While Frost Wolves in general were nasty, vicious creatures, to Snowball we were pack. She snuggled on the couch with me any time I was sitting on it and was a constant companion with Mercy when she was cooking. We didn't know if it was because she was so young or because we helped her with the Kin-Kai, but I didn't care. I loved her to death.

I loved her more when she chewed on Vergil's boots.

In the middle of lunch, the phone rang and Mercy ran to get it. Dante was desperately trying to get Snowball to sit for a treat, but it was a lost cause. You can't ask an almost six foot ice wolf to sit while your sitting. They just end up eating off your plate, right from the table.

A few moments later, Mercy came back into the kitchen with a broad smile on her face.

"That was Kyrie. She asked if we could all come for a visit." Her excitement was evident and I felt myself close down a little. While things at the shop had settled into a peaceful normal, it didn't change the fact that I almost killed Mercy and Vergil—on Nero and Kyrie's wedding day.

Vergil glanced at me as I took a small bite of my homemade fries. I was quickly loosing my appetite, it'd been happening a lot lately.

"Come on—sit girl!" Dante coaxed with exasperation. He was down to a handful of fries and his burger was gone. His plate presently sporting some ice shards from where she licked it.

Vergil shook his head and focused on his wife, "When?"

"Today!" She grinned, her feathered wings fluttered and resettled a few times as she clasped her hands together.

"Huh?" Dante said, taking his attention away from Snowball. Which of course allowed her the opportunity to devour the rest of his lunch with the lick of her massive tongue. I snickered as I gave her side a quick pat, thankful that she was kind of blocking Mercy's view of me. I'd stopped eating, my stomach churning slightly. I really didn't want to see Nero. Or Kyrie.

An apology just didn't seem like enough.

"Hmm." Vergil said, glancing at me again. This time I caught him looking at me and I rolled my eyes, he'd been doing that a lot lately. What was up his ass?

"Very well," he said as he stood and headed towards the door. Mercy giggled and did a little twirl as she followed him, neither one waiting for us to follow.

"Geese Snow, did you have to leave a trail of frozen slobber?" Dante sighed as he poked a tall ice spike that was slowly melting.

I chuckled and rubbed her large face with my hands. Her dog breath was freezing as she panted in my face and gave me an icy like on my face.

"Fuck that's cold!" I laughed as she did it again. Dante stood, dusting some of the iced drool from his coat.

"Well, I guess we better get going." He said as he stretched.

"Huh? You mean we have to go too?" I made a face and Dante grinned, poking my cheek as Snowball laid down on the floor to lick some ketchup off the floor that had fallen.

"Now don't tell me you're scared, Sexy." He teased.

I snorted and stood, cocking my hip as I crossed my arms. "Scared? Me? Just who do you think you're talking too?"

He grinned playfully as he stepped closer and slipped his arms over my hips. Gently pulling me forward against him, "A sexy ass woman whose all mine."

"Ha! Nice try." I narrowed my eyes at him, smirking. "You'll have to do better than that."

He smiled broadly as he leaned forward and started kissing my neck, working his way across my jaw line. The feel sent a shiver down my spine and I wasn't able to stop the sharp inhale.

"Oh alright!" I said, trying to keep my voice from sounding flustered. I pushed him back slightly by the shoulders as I gave him a knowing look.

"We can't have sex in the kitchen."

Dante pouted with puppy dog eyes, "But why?"

I laughed, "Because Mercy would kills us."

Dante grinned, "Say what you want, but I think it'd almost be worth it."

"Riiight." I rolled my eyes and adjusted my top that had shifted up a little.

"Hey, want to gave some real fun on this visit?" Dante grinned with a glint in his eye and I couldn't stop myself from grinning back.

"What did you have in mind?"

* * *

The trip to the Castle Town of Fortunate was a relatively quick one. We'd taken Dante's sports car and while I normally enjoyed it, for some reason I felt queasy. No one really noticed, which was good. I mostly was nervous about how Nero and Kyrie would react when they saw me. They knew I was back, but I hadn't seen either of them since...

Well, the wedding.

Once we arrived, we were met by a short woman in a simple dress. She greeted us warmly and showed us inside a large house or maybe it was a manor? It was was more upscale than our small shop in the poor end of a Limbo City, that was for sure.

Lush carpets and beautiful paintings hung on the walls. The windows were completely spotless. It was like a museum and for some weird reason I felt even more uneasy. Dante whistled as we walked, elbowing Vergil who was walking next to him.

"Man, I can't believe this place. How the hell did they manage this?"

Vergil kept his face blank, but the pride was evident when he spoke, "Nero has been named Guardian."

"Guardian?" I asked. Mercy grinned next to me as we followed them.

"Yes. Kyrie has been Regent of the Castle Town of Fortuna since the fall of the Order. She has helped rebuild it and establish it as a focal point for those without homes. Those who have had their lives devastated by demon attacks. A safe haven if you will. Nero has been named Guardian, which means he helps to protect the town."

I must have been staring because Mercy smiled at me, "If you're nervous, do not worry. All is forgiven."

I frowned, glancing around a moment as we continued to walk. "Say what you want, but I did almost kill his parents on his wedding day." I mumbled.

"True." Vergil said as we continued to follow the woman, who turned down another long hallway. "I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to kill you."

Dante laughed and put his hands on his head as we walked, "Been a while since I sparred with him. I'd hate to wipe the floor with your boy."

The two shared a look and Mercy smiled, stepping between them and linking their arms with her's on either side. "Now, now. This is a family visit. We must behave. Kyrie said they had something to tell us." She beamed.

I felt oddly out of place with the three of them walking in front of me. Like somehow I wasn't part of their group. Their...family. Why did that bother me so much? I mean I was kind of part of their family.

Wasn't I?

In the middle of my mental depression that had suddenly come over me, Dante reached out and grabbed my wrist. With a quick pull, I was beside him with his arm around my shoulders. He grinned at me as he placed a loving kiss on my temple.

"You okay Sexy?" He said softly as Vergil and Mercy continued to talk.

"Y-yeah. I just feel kind weird. I'm fine. I think I'm just nervous or something."

"Hmmm. Well don't be. Remember we've got our own fun coming up." He grinned. I snickered and kissed his lips as the woman stopped in front of a door. Without a word she opened it and showed us inside a large room with chairs and beautiful furniture. The large bay window framed a garden filled with wild flowers. It was breath taking and I felt myself get caught up in staring at it.

"Mercy!" Said Kyrie as she stood up from her chair and started to walk towards us. The room fell silent as we all stared at her.

Or rather...

Her very large, very pregnant belly.


	41. Worried

Kyrie laughed as we all stared at her. Vergil and Dante's mouths were slightly agape as Mercy suddenly appeared in front of her and hugged Kyrie. The two were a laughing, giggling, happy mess and I felt like I needed to run away. The only reason why I hadn't was because I could hear foot steps approaching.

Just as Dante and Vergil managed to find their compsure, the door opened again and in walked Nero. His hair was cut extremely short, almost military like as he was dressed in non traditional and somewhat altered, general garb. The coat had the sleeves rolled up like he usual had them, with the tails following behind him. The cut of the tails was unusual and reminded me of Mercy's wings.

Trying to keep a low profile and figure out how to slip out of this very awkward situation, I kept half hidden behind Dante. Vergil on the other hand stepped forward to greet his son. It was strange, my last full memory of him was at his wedding. He seemed older, more confident and sure of himself.

I wished I could just disappear from this room without anyone notice  
I got me, but Dante had a good grip on my hand. He could probably feel my anxiety through the link we shared. Which was confirmed when he looked at me and smiled reassuringly.

"This is wonderful news! I'm so happy for you!" Exclaimed Mercy as she fretted over Kryie and urged her to sit back down. By the size of her belly it was obvious that she was probably going to give birth soon.

Vergil smirked slightly as he gripped his son's shoulder and nodded, "Yes, congratulations."

Nero looked slightly uncomfortable by the gesture, but also pleased. "Thanks. Sorry we didn't tell you sooner. We've been really busy with training more guardians and reinforcing our defenses."

Dante laughed, "Jeeze kid, you almost sound like a grown up!"

Nero clicked his tongue, an old habit that was still present. However, Dante's laugh had brought his attention to him and then to me. The moment his eyes met mine, I tried to stand still. Like that would somehow make him not see me.

Which was stupid. Of course he could see me.

"I see you brought It." Nero said quietly. The whole room fell to sudden silence and the churning feeling in my stomach got ten times worse. What could I say? An 'I'm sorry' just wasn't going to cut it. Regardless of what Mundus had made me do, it was still I who had done it.

"Nero." Kyrie and Mercy said at the same time.

"Why are you here?" Nero asked, his voice a hairs breath away from being as cold as Vergil's. Seriously, you could deny they were father and son when they stood next to each other like that.

"Uh, trying to do the right thing I guess." My words came out a little breathy, mostly because I felt like I was going to throw up. Dante frowned and tucked his arm around my back to support me.

"Hey kid, ease up will you? I can feel her about to ruin your fancy carpet." Dante warned Nero, who slowly blinked at the two of us so close together. Realization dawned on his face as he glanced at Vergil.

Damnit, I was going to be sick.

Mercy was suddenly next to me and before I could really process what was happening, I found myself heaving up my lunch into a toilet. I continued to dry heave for a few minutes as Mercy rubbed my back and hummed a soothing song. I thought it was never going to stop. When I finally managed to get control of myself, I was shaking and covered in sweat.

"Fucking hell." I mumbled, resting my back and head against the wall. My eyes felt hot with tears, but I couldn't seem to find the strength to wipe them away. Distantly I was aware of water running, a few moments later a cool washcloth laid across my forehead.

"Thanks" I muttered as Mercy busied herself by flushing the toilet and tidying up the bathroom.

"You're welcome." She said softly. She sounded serious and not the happy go lucky woman she'd been just a few minutes ago when she found out she was going to be a grandmother.

"You can go back. I'll be fine." Not wanting to ruin anymore good memories of her. She stopped whiling down the sink and looked at me, her blue eyes extremely focused as she carefully folded the washcloth and set it down.

"There will be plenty of time to spend with Kyrie and my new grand son. He is strong and she will have an easy labor."

I slowly blinked at her, "Uh, okay." I wasn't really sure which part of that I found most unusual.

"I can feel his energy. He is a good boy. We need not worry about him. You on the other hand, we should all be worried about."

"Uh...because I threw up? Seriously, I'm fine. I think I was just stressed out. Last time I was here I ruined their wedding and almost killed you all. I mean, I don't have the same connection with him and Kyrie that you have. But I still feel...bad. Guilty... See this is why I didn't want to come here, just saying it out loud sounds like shit." I grumbled half heartedly while I took the washcloth off my forehead.

Mercy frowned slowly, like she was thinking about something as I forced myself to stand. A knock sounded at the door and Dante's voice filtered through.

"Please tell me I have the right bathroom. I've knocked on like a hundred doors in this museum of a house. I'm just kind of down to winging it now."

"Yeah. We're in here. I'm fine." I said as I tossed the washcloth on the counter and opened up the door. Dante smiled softly as worry hugged his features.

"You okay?" He asked as his partially gloved hand came up, rubbing his thumb over my cheek. I smirked at the warm loving gesture and kissed his lips.

"Yeah. Just a bit stressed out."

Mercy came up beside me, her face still serious as she looked at me. "When we are done, I need to speak with you."

"Yeah okay." I agreed, she was acting weird but I pushed it aside. There were bigger concerns now.

Mercy nodded once and slipped by Dante and then phased through the wall across from the bathroom.

"Fuck do I wish I could do that. Is that how I got to the bathroom so fast?"

"Yeah, she was fucking fast too. I barely saw her move." He grinned suddenly and slipped his warm hands around my hips.

"Ready for the fun Sexy?"

"Already?" I blinked, "Isn't it a little early for it? I mean, it could go to hell really quick,"

Dante laughed and kissed my forehead, "Oh yes, it's the perfect time. The kid's got to learn some manners, he called you 'it'. Besides, I want to see the look on his face."

"That's so evil." I snickered as I kissed his cheek.

"I know. But hey, it's only a little evil." He winked at me.


	42. Payback

Now, some might think that the first humans who walked the planet where all dog people. After all they are 'man's best friend' and I'm sure that most cavemen had wild dogs to help them hunt and were part of the family.

I'm also sure that there was one person in every family that wasn't a dog person and ran screaming out of the cave.

Or in this case...

Ran across the garden courtyard with a Frost Wolf attempting to try and lick in to death.

"What?! This thing had a name?!" Nero yelled, panic and fear covering his features in a wonderful mix of shifting emotion. I might have felt bad for messing up his wedding, but damn if it didn't make me feel good to watch him run through wild flowers as Snowball chased him; bits of slobber forming ice splashes as she chased him.

"I told you kid!" Dante hollers as Snowball lunged at Nero, barely missing his coat tails as he dodged the massive jaws of ice. "You gotta learn manners with the ladies!" He laughed loudly as Nero ran back around.

All of us were standing outside, laughing. We had let Kyrie in on our prank and surprisingly she was up for it. She even convinced Nero to take his sword and his gun off before we went outside. Nero had continued to be an ass and it was then that Dante whistled, calling Snowball out from the massive tree line. We had expected her to follow us, which we helped along by leaving the front door to the shop unlocked.

The pay off was fantastic and I was feeling better. Laughter was the best medicine, who knew?

Nero doubled jumped up to the side of the manor, just grabbing the edge of one of the low roofs. His face was red and he was panting. Snowball on the other hand had gotten distracted with a rather large section of daffodils. She was currently rolling around in them.

"Hey," I called to him, stepping away from Dante and Vergil who were both smirking widely. "I know an apology doesn't change what I did, but for what it's worth, I am sorry!"

Nero scowled at me, "I don't want your appology." His voice was nasty and I shrugged.

"That's fine, you still have it anyway."

Nero clicked his tongue as Dante came up beside me, slipping his arm around my shoulders and giving him a little wave.

"Hate to tell you this kid, but she's part of the family now too. If we gotta accept you, you need to accept her."

Nero's face was angry as he stood there watching the two of us. I thought maybe Mercy would step in, but instead it was Kyrie. She took a few steps forward, coming up on my other side. I felt a little uneasy again, that sickening feeling was back. She placed her hand gently on my shoulder as Dante moved his arm, giving me a gentle look.

"Mercy explained what happened. I...I won't pretend that I'm not upset still by what you've done, but I do understand it." Her voice was soft and kind. Suddenly, I knew why Mercy liked her so much.

"...thank you." I whispered. I wasn't looking for forgiveness, just...maybe a little understanding. I'd made a lot of mistakes and I'd swore to myself that I would do better. Be better than I was.

Kyrie smiled at me, a genuine one that wasn't full of hate or fear. After a moment she looked towards Nero and the look on her face was worth a thousand words. Over the heavy rustling of Snowball still rolling around and covering half the garden in ice, I heard Nero sigh loudly.

A second later he was down off the roof and in front of me, his face stern. It resembled Vergil so much I almost forgot the man was standing behind me with Mercy.

"I will never forgive you," he ground out. There was a brief pause as he glanced at Kyrie and then to Dante before he crossed his arms and huffed, "But I won't kill you for being a puppet. Do not hurt my family."

His voice was so deadly serious, I simply nodded. I would never hurt these people again. Ever.

* * *

The rest of the visit went off without a hitch and while Nero refused to let Snowball in the manor, he did agree that she could stay in the garden. His reasoning being, 'She's already killed half of it by frost anyway.'

We laughed, ate, shared battle stories and then challenged one another to a game of tag. It was childish and stupid, declared by our very out sour puss, Vergil. But the manor was huge and Kyrie had a blast being the 'safety'. We started at one end and who ever made it to her first before being tagged out by someone else, won.

Needless to say, Mercy and I were the reigning champs by the time it was over. We weren't the type of girls to do anything by half. It was always all or nothing.

Mercy's seriousness seemed to disappear after our little talk in the bathroom, so I figured she was either expressing her worry about me being sick or she was just pissed off at me about killing the great pregnancy reveal. We made it back to the shop, Snowball collapsing on the broken couch in a heavily panting mess and the guys upstairs, before she spoke seriously to me again.

"I am worried."

"You've said that before."

Mercy frowned and sat down at the table as we entered the kitchen. I was staring even though I'd eaten a massive amount of food at Kyrie and Nero's place. It was like hadn't eaten in weeks.

"Ooo," I murmured as I opened the fridge to spot a large container of Mercy's chili. "Come to mama." I grinned as I grabbed it and set it on the counter.

"Yes, and it bears repeating. I am worried about you."

"Mercy, I don't do well with reading between the lines. Spit it out." I gave her a look and she frowned harder as I went back to the container of chili. Part of me wanted to eat it cold right out of the plastic Tupperware, the other part was screaming for me to heat it up. Cold chili won out though as I grabbed a spoon from the dish rack. As I sat down across from Mercy I could tell she was thinking hard, there was a cease in her brow. I half expected smoke to come out of her ears.

Deciding to give her a moment to figure it out, I started wolfing down the chili. It was cold, but oh so good—a delicate balance of sweet and spicy. It was almost better than sex...almost.

"Alice..." Mercy said quietly. I looked up from the half eaten container and smirked.

"Mercy?"

She paused for a moment, worry etched her features as she frowned.

"Alice, I am worried. You are pregnant and it's killing you."


	43. Biology

"Okay, seriously, just because I'm eating your cold chili out of a container doesn't mean I'm pregnant. And just because I threw up earlier doesn't mean I'm dying." I sighed, man sometimes Mercy was a major worry wort.

Mercy frowned harder and shook her head, "It's not any of those things. Though they are part of it. Alice, your energy has changed."

I raised an eye brow as I took another bite of chili. This conversation was down right fucking crazy, but I'd humor her if it made her feel better.

Damn this chili was amazing...

Mercy seemed to realize that I wasn't going to say anything and leaned forward, letting her arms rest on the table.

"Alice, do you love Dante?"

The sudden question had me choking on a large bite of chili. After several long moments of coughing and hacking, I was finally able to take a breath.

"Jesus Mercy, what does that have to do with anything?!" I hadn't meant to shout, but damn my throat burned.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you, but it is important. Do you love Dante?" Her face was serious and her voice soft. I got the feeling I was missing something, something important.

Setting the spoon down, I leaned back in the chair and looked at her as I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Yes, I do. Though we've never said it out loud. It's just something...we know, I guess." Fuck this was awkward.

Mercy nodded once, "Angels are only able to become pregnant when we love someone unconditionally and completely. However, it cannot be one sided, they must love us the same in return. Love has its own energy, it is more powerful than hate. More devastating than war. Biologically, we cannot conceive the way that humans do, which is why there are so many of them.

Angels died out because we were fighting a war. A war filled with anger and hate. There was no love in our world, as demons forgot how to love and angels struggled to not forget. We are the last of our kind and it is with Sparda's linage—mixed with humans—that might allow us to find some kind of peace."

"I'm not an angel." I said quietly. As she spoke I ended up staring at the half empty container of chili.

Me? Pregnant? I wasn't the mother type. Hell, I was barely girlfriend material.

"You may not have your wings, but you are my mirror. Angels are not born with wings Alice, we earn them." Mercy's voice was gentle, her wings shifting slightly under her hoodie.

"Earn them?"

"Yes. Each angel is different. Some never earn them. All demons at one time were angels until their hearts filled with hate, jealousy and anger. We were the protectors and guides of the world and our sins are etched on every thing that surrounds us. Our family, must atone for those sins." Her voice was saddened as she looked down at her hands. I watched her as she closed her eyes and took a shallow breath before opening them again.

"Alice, I have done many things in my life time. Many that I regret. If I had the chance to change things I would. I do not want you to make those same mistakes. You are pregnant with Dante's child. His energy is strong and the link you share is what's keeping you together in this plane."

"I thought you said the ring was keeping me here." I raised an eyebrow at her. I still had my doubts about being pregnant. Maybe I was in denial...or maybe I was scared.

"Not for a while now. The night you and Dante came together you created the bond of love and selflessness, in that moment the ring became nothing more than a piece of useless metal. It served its purpose."

I huffed and rubbed the bridge of my nose, "Okay, let's say for argument sake that I believe you. Not saying I do, but let's just say I do. Why then, am I dying?"

Mercy frowned sadly then, "Because creating life takes giving life. You are merely exist here because of your bond with Dante. You have no essence of your own to give, which is why energy manipulation is so difficult for you."

I didn't know why, but hearing her say that I wasn't actually existing hurt like a son of a bitch. I had just gotten back to Dante, found love. I'd found my own little niche in the world with them all as a family. Fuck, even Nero and Kyrie had accepted me...

"If we do not make your physical being permanent soon, you will cease to be. You will no longer be my Shadow, you will just be...gone." She whispered as I stared at her.

We ended up staring at each other in silence for a while, her words heavy in the air. The more time passed the more pissed off I felt. It had taken a very fucking long time to realize what I wanted. Even longer still to understand that I needed to change in order to grow, as Mercy had said. I clenched my fist and slammed it down on the table, hard enough to rattle the spoon.

"Well fuck that. What do I have to do?"

Mercy smiled, relief flooding her features for a moment before turning deadly serious again.

"I have a plan, but you won't like it."

"Try me."

"We must destroy Mundus." Her voice grim, a touch of anger in it.

I blinked, well that...wasn't what I was expecting.


	44. Time

Mercy's plan was insane.

Let me rephrase, it was down right fucking bat shit crazy to the point were psychotic murders actually looked sane.

I loved it.

But I also hated it. Mainly because the plan involved lying to Dante and Vergil—not an easy feat to say the least. Both brothers were better than a blood hound and with the link Mercy and I had created with them made it almost impossible. We had to resort to any tactic we could come up with.

 _Any_ tactic...

From long training sessions with Vergil, trying to prepare for entering Hell. To night long sex in various rooms of the shop in order to say goodbye...

So far in the last two weeks we'd managed it, but it was getting harder. We were running out of time. I...I was running out of time. It was with Mercy's help that I was able to keep my bouts of sickness hidden, but my body was fading. Mercy kept me going by transferring me energy, but she wouldn't be able to do it for much longer.

Time was ticking away...

* * *

Dante was sitting on the roof in an old beat up lawn chair, sharpening his father's sword. He'd gone up there to think for the last few hours after he'd made love to Alice. It had seemed like a normal night for them, at first. But as she climaxed the second time, he felt something drifted between their energy pull. It was sadness, so deep and so...heartbreaking it was borderline sorrow. It disappeared just as quick as he'd felt it, but something about it made him suspicious.

The door to the roof opened and Dante didn't look to see who it was. He recognized that soft walk anywhere.

Vergil sat down next to Dante in the other lawn chair that was severely weathered and half broken. He was dressed in a simple t-shirt and sleep pants, barefooted and slightly messed hair. Dante chuckled as he glanced at him and set his sword down on the roof next to the cooler full of beer he brought up.

"Seems like you had a nice night too. Want a beer?" He didn't wait to see his brother's reaction as he popped the cooler and pulled out two ice cold beers.

Vergil raised a brow, "That's none of your business." Despite his cool response, he took the beer.

Dante smirked as he took the cap off, "That's a yes." Taking a long sip, Vergil also uncapped his beer and took a quick sip.

"This tastes horrid."

"Yeah well, it suits the mood."

Both brothers slipped into silence as the night time sounds of the city echoed around them. The stars weren't visible, but the city lights reflecting off the smog haze was a vibrant mix of yellow, red and orange.

"So," Dante said taking another long sip off his beer, "Did Mercy let something slip while you two were—"

Vergil cut him off with a quick scowl before looking back over the street stretched out from the front of the shop.

"I caught a brief moment. But I didn't understand it." Vergil said thoughtfully.

Dante hummed in agreement, but didn't pry on what he felt. Instead he asked the question that brought him to the roof in the first place.

"So, what are we going to do about it?"

Another long moment passed in silence before Vergil looked at Dante. Leaning forward, he turned slightly to give him a leveled look.

"We follow them, help them if needed and then we punish them for lying."

Dante laughed, "That sounds serious. You must have felt something good." He wiggled his eye brows as Vergil glared at him.

"Dante—" He warned as Dante grinned.

"Well, they haven't exactly lied. Omission isn't 'lying'." Dante chided, earning a him a nasty look again from his brother.

Vergil clicked his tongue, "Omission is still a deception. They are both up to something."

Dante nodded, downing the rest of his beer in a few quick gulps.

"So this punishment you had in mind."

"Dante—"

"I'm just sayin', we could have a lot of fun—" Dante wiggled his eye brows as Vergil sighed heavily.

"Whips, tight leather... You know, the whole sha-bang."

Vergil stared at him a little wide eyed before narrowing his eyes.

"What?" Dante said innocently as Vergil shook his head and downed the rest of his own beer.

* * *

"Did you get?" I whispered as Mercy hovered near the top of the ceiling. Her entire arm was phased through it attempting to get Sparda's sword. Mercy already had Yamato strapped to her back. In order to enter Hell we needed two keys, one for each of us. Only Sparda's swords were capable since both were created from Divine metal. Though we were sure neither of them knew that Sparda's original sword was made from it as well.

"Shhh." She whispered. A few long seconds later, she pulled her hand down with the sword in hand.

"Good work." I smiled half heartedly. The deceptions over the last two weeks were killing me. I loved Dante so much, not telling him was painful.

Mercy slowly came down, her wings lowering her gently. She gave me a steady look and suddenly hugged me.

Startled, I stood there stiffly as she whispered to me.

"Please for give me Alice. I know this is difficult. But Dante will forgive us as well as Vergil. But before we can been forgiven, we must make sure you are around."

I nodded slowly. Over the last couple of weeks I was feeling emotional. Stupid things were making me want to cry. Like Mercy hugging me.

"Come. We must be quick now. They will notice immediately that the swords are gone." Mercy pulled back and took my hand. Our gazes locked as she offered up a soft smile. She slid the hilt of Dante's father's sword into my hand.

" _Be strong. Be brave. Be Light._ " Mercy whispered in angelic tongue. I briefly felt her energy wrap around me, giving me strength. Taking a deep breath I nodded.

"Let's go."


	45. Rewind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to Limboolian. 
> 
> Your beautiful artwork and wonderful comments have meant so much to me, words fail to express it. 
> 
> Here is my thank you to you and a little something for all the Vergil and Mercy fans out there.
> 
> Enjoy!

_One month and two weeks ago..._

Mercy and Vergil sat at the kitchen table alone. Lady and Trish had left sometime after Vanessa left. Mercy had gently pulled on her bond with Vergil, urging him to stay at the table with her as Alice went upstairs. Dante lingered for a few moments, his energy shifting with emotions and thoughts, hinting faintly at what was to come.

Mercy busied herself with the dishes as Vergil helped dry and put them away. With the subtle push of them working together, Dante seemed to come to a decision and quietly left. Silence passed easily between the two as Mercy washed and Vergil dried. Mercy's focus was mostly on the energy spike that had suddenly flared upstairs. From what she could tell, Dante and Alice were kissing.

"Why are you smiling?" Vergil asked as he paused in drying a pot. A moment later passionate sounds drifted down from the upstairs. Dante had left the staircase door open.

Vergil blinked and looked at the far side of the kitchen and then to Mercy who was smiling gently.

"Your brother moves fast."

Vergil scowled and went back to drying the pot in his hands, the menial work was something he never would have done before. But somehow when Mercy was involved, it was tolerable.

"Don't be upset. You are an excellent lover and I love you completely." Mercy's voice was soft, yet sweet and Vergil stiffened a little as his face turned slightly red.

"I'm not upset, I just don't see why you're so happy about the two of them—"

"Having sex?" Mercy offered. Her words made his face turn that much more red as Alice's passionate screams were closely echoed by his brother's.

"I was going to say something else, but yes." He muttered, setting the pot down and grabbing its lid to dry.

Mercy chuckled softly, "Yes I know. But I am happy because all is as it should be. They will make each other better. They will find peace to their guilt and love in each others arms."

Vergil watched her for a moment, at a loss for words. His Mercy paid attention to things he felt were unimportant or frivolous. But really they weren't, those small things actually made a big difference. It was a lesson he still had to learn.

After a moment of them working in tandem, Vergil had a thought that occurred to him and he frowned. Something about how she said those last few words was whispering to him through their bond.

"Tell me." He said simply and Mercy sighed.

"We have maybe two months if not less before her pregnancy starts to consume her."

Vergil stopped drying again and gave his wife a steady, leveled look. Mercy nodded, not looking at him as she continued to wash the remaining dishes.

"They have begun to create a bond, with that bond allows her to conceive a child. Angels can only conceive one child at a time." She smiled gently at him them, her blue eyes warm and kind.

"Which is why we only have our son. Angels are made slowly, which is why we have died out. Until Nero dies, we cannot conceive another."

He wasn't sure why her words sounded so sad, but he could feel the sorrow of them echoing through their bond. With it came flashes of wants and missed opportunities. She missed out on Nero's childhood, she had wanted to be there. She wanted to be his mother. To her, it still felt like she wasn't even though he called her 'mom'.

Vergil frowned as she finished washing the last dish and placed it in the drying rack. Turning to him, she caressed his face with damp, soapy hands. They were warm and gentle as she stood on her tippy toes to kiss his lips.

"I ask for your forgiveness my love. For I cannot let the part of myself that I banished, that I cast aside and that has grown be forgotten and consumed. I must help her. But in order to do so, I must take her back to her birth place."

Vergil's face was hard mask as he listened, her voice taking on that slight accent she got when she was serious. The truth of her words zinged along their bond and he felt her energy push at him. Without a word he let her slip her energy into him as she kissed him deeper.

The thrill was electric and the sounds of love making happening just above them seemed to church the desire inside himself. Not to mention she had been so dominate in scaring the hell out of Vanessa. His wife was a goddess and not for the first time did Vergil think she would be his undoing. Distantly he was aware that his hands had slipped around her waist and that he had lifted her up to set her on the counter.

Mercy moaned in that sweet pitch he'd come to love so deeply and he forced himself to stop before he got side tracked.

"What is your plan?" He said breathily as she smirked at him softly. Her eyes were glowing as she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned forward kissing his neck deliciously.

"I will tell you," she whispered like a vixen in his ear, "after I make you beg for release."

Vergil shuddered as she licked along his neck. He was already hard, the tightening in his pants adding undo pressure to the throbbing he was feeling. In any other situation, in any other time he would have scoffed at her declaration of making him beg...

But he knew he would...

Over and over again, until she let him...

"Oh god..." He whispered, his voice losing its icy control as he gripped her thighs and nuzzled her long, braided hair. 


	46. Cleanse

After grabbing the swords and the back pack full of supplies we phased through the second floor wall, landing as silently as possible. Mercy had said that both brothers were looking out towards the front of the shop so they would see us take the back alleyway to the next street over.

We hauled ass passed that street and down two more alleyways that looked vaguely familiar. The sights and smells grew stronger to the point of making my already shitty nausea that much worse. It wasn't until we crossed the next street and rounded the corner of a run down building that I recognized where we were.

"Why are we...here?" I was out of breath and my stomach was in knots. Mercy looked around like she was looking for something specific.

"Your first physical form was born in this alleyway." Her focus was completely away from me and I took the opportunity to lean against the nearby building. The nighttime sounds of the city drifted around us as she began scrutinizing the ground.

"Uh, okay. Not sure why that is important." I'd finally caught my breath, but I was starting to feel anxiety rise up from nowhere. It took me a moment, but i realized it wasn't me who was feeling panicked. It was Dante.

"He noticed I'm gone." I whispered. I might have been fading, but our bond was still strong.

Mercy looked at me then, her blue eyes glowing gently in the darkness.

"It's important because this is where you spilled your first innocent blood. Sins come in all forms, death being the most obvious. And I know that they have noticed our absence. We will be gone from here soon." Striding over to me she hens out her hand.

"Your hand please." Raising a brow, I extended my hand and she took it, leading me to the spot where she was standing just a moment ago.

"Hold still."

"Huh?"

The next moment there was a flash of metal as she drew Yamato and cut my hand. Blood, black and thick rose quickly as I yelped from the sudden pain.

"What the fuck Mer?!"

"Shh! Be still." She hissed as she clenched my bleeding hand and tilted it so the blood ran down my palm and splattered on the ground.

" _We offer sacrifice to cleanse the sins of this woman. Please forgive her for her misdeeds. We swear our lives to avenge your true murder._ " The angelic speech flowed off her tongue like smooth flowing water. I felt her energy wrap around me and pull at something inside me. The blood from my hand was slowly stopping the flow, but before it did the last drop that fell shimmered slightly. Like a small jewel. Once it hit the ground the sounds of the city seemed to stop for a moment and then start up again.

She grinned as she looked at me, "The sacrifice has been excepted. Come, we must hurry."

She tugged my hand and we were off running again. I was barely keeping up with her as it was, so she held onto my hand as we turned several times down various streets and alleyways. It wasn't long before we came to the shop of the two ladies I had killed. Their faces flashed in my mind and I felt my legs stop.

"Mercy, what is the point of this? You said I had to cleanse my sins, but—"

"Alice... I know your memories of mine are sporadic and not complete. But please, there will be time to explain later." She whispered as she reached for my hand again. Without warning she began running again straight at the back door to the now vacant clothing shop. At the last possible second we phased through the back door and directly to where I had killed the two women. The blood stains were still evident even after years, like the police merely removed the bodies and the. Didn't bother to clean anything up.

"Your hand Alice." Mercy prompted. Begrudgingly, I gave her the hand she had already cut, but she shook her head. Huffing I offered my other hand and she took it. Holding it firmly, she reached behind my head and grabbed Dante's sword.

"But why—" I began, but my word were followed by several curses. Fucking hell, why did she have to cut me twice?! On my arm?!

The black blood rose quickly and she tilted my arm, letting the blood flow and land on the floor.

" _We offer sacrifice to cleanse the sins of this woman. Please forgive her for her misdeeds. We swear our lives to avenge your true murder._ " She said again and as the blood flow slowed, this time two small drops that looked light bright red human blood, shimmered before landing in the floor.

A wave of panic and anger hit me as she let go of my arm and I staggered. Mercy quickly slipped her arm around my waist and held me up as she swiftly re-sheathed the sword on my back.

"Breathe. I know they are looking for us. We are almost done, there is one more thing we need to do."

I laughed bitterly as I tried to steady myself, "Aw come on mom, I don't want to play outside anymore." I said sarcastically.

Mercy chuckled and kissed my forehead, which startled me. "You get sarcastic when you're scared. Did you know that?"

"Hey, how about less cutting and prodding and more moving." I muttered.

"And you get whinny." She chuckled as she let her energy slip into me. It was warm and gentle, keeping the panic I was feeling through my bond with Dante at a minimum. In moments I felt better and nodded to Mercy.

"What's next?"

"We must offer sacrifice to Lady and Trish. Then we must 'haul ass' to the Hell Gate."

"I still don't get the point of this..." I grumbled as we started running again. I hadn't killed Lady or Trish, but God knows I tried. It didn't take long for us to reach their apartment building on the north side of the city. With Mercy's energy running through me, I was keeping pace with her pretty easily.

The street was deserted and all the lights were off inside. We made our way to the front door of the building and Mercy stopped, turning to me.

"Here." She said, un-sheathing Yamato and holding the hilt out towards me.

"Now you want to do it myself?" I snorted as I took the sword. It's handle hummed in my hand and I shivered. The divine metal in its blade was still as pure as the day it had been forged.

"You didn't kill them, but you did try. That is also a type of sin, for this offering you must give something that means something to you."

Frowning, I looked down at my black athletic pants, t-shirt and tennis shoes. "Like what? I didn't bring anything personal."

Mercy hummed for a moment and then snapped her fingers, "Your hair."

"What?"

"Cut your hair."

We both stared at each other, her completely serious face meeting my surprised one. Seriously? Okay, this was just getting weird now.

"Ugh, whatever." I said as I pulled out my pony tail and grabbed my blue hair. "This permanent living thing better be good damnit. I just started to like this hair."

With one last sigh, I gripped the hilt a little harder, my hand stinging from the previous cut as I quickly pulled the edge through my air. It came smoothly and I dropped the long blue locks on the ground.

"Uh, I offer sacrifice to cleanse my sins. Please forgive me for my misdeeds. We swear our lives to avenge...you." I stumbled over the words that Mercy had spoken earlier. Not sure if I was supposed to say anything or not. We both ended up watching the clump of blue hair for any sign that the offering had been accepted. A few long minutes ticked by until finally the hair started to glow faintly.

"You did it!" Mercy half shouted as she grinned and took Yamato back. Once it was sheathed she took my hand and pulled me to the back side of the building towards a row of parked cars.

"Now what are we doing?"

"Borrowing Lady's motorcycle." She grinned.


	47. Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I didn't post this last night (way, WAY too exhausted after taking the kids toe karate and then working out with the hubby — ended up passing out with my work out clothes still on).
> 
> ANY-WHO....We are coming to the end of this little (not so little) sequel fic. There's maybe a handful of chapters left to write, but I'm going to do this the best justice that I can. 
> 
> Thank you all for reading, commenting, leaving Kudos, bookmarking and subscribing! It was an honor and a pleasure and I do hope that you guys check out my other works. 
> 
> And if you have a request, don't forget to post it in my Open Special Request series!

The ride to the hidden cave that held the original Hell Gate took hours. Not because we weren't driving fast enough, but because we had to stop so I could get sick a few times. The nausea came and went and though distance thinned the strength of the bond, I could still feel Dante.

He was anxious, angry and...sad. I felt the back wash of emotions as I dry heaved one more time outside the cave entrance. It was carefully hidden deep within a dense forest. Honestly, if you didn't know it was there, you never would find it.

"Alice..." Mercy said worriedly, her hands making sure my now short hair didn't get caught by anything that might be leaving my mouth.

"I'm..." I gagged hard, a small amount of bile hitting the forest floor. "...fine."

Finally, the nausea started to settle down and I leaned up against the side of the tree. I was sweating and exhausted. I had no fucking clue how we were going to enter through the Hell Gate and make it to Mundus's castle.

"I am sorry, Alice." Mercy said softly. I glanced at her concerned face and chuckled lightly as I wiped my mouth on the back of my hand.

"It's not you're fault. For what it's worth, I'm kind of glad you separated us. I used to hate you, you know?"

Mercy stared at me, her whole body freezing and I chuckled again.

"I remember the first time I realized I was separate from you. It was shortly before Vergil was brought to you as a toy, right?"

Mercy continued to not move and it was creepy. Her blue eyes and long braided hair with pale skin, surround by dark Forrest was a stark contrast. Shot, she almost glowed in the darkness.

"Yes." She said quietly, "I was...loosing my mind. Angels do not do well in Darkness. We crave the Light. We are only able to maintain our 'Angel' status if you will, if we remember and I...I was forgetting..."

Her voice sounded strained and I offered up a half smile to her, grabbing her shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

"Hey, I get it. I've grown since then, just like you said I should. I'm actually thankful..."

"Thankful?" She blinked.

"Yeah, I got everything I wanted."

"What you...wanted?"

I looked out into the darkness of the trees, despite it being night and the forest being so quiet, it was peaceful.

"I wanted love. I wanted...to be wanted. Be needed. I wanted power to defend myself, be feared and yet cherished. I think between the two of us, we did all of those things and more..." I looked at her then and she smiled sadly.

"Yes, I believe so. Though we both have regrets about the paths we chose."

I nodded slightly as I looked behind her towards the cave. The entrance was small, big enough for only one person to fit through at a time. Moss and overgrowth grew up the stone walls. The darkness in that cave was not the peacefulness of the forest. It was a black hole, waiting...watching,

Mercy turned and looked towards the entrance too. We stood there for a moment before we both stepped forward, urged by some unknown feeling that the time was now.

No more running. No more being a puppet. No more fear.

It ended now.

With Mundus's fucking head on a pike...

* * *

"Fucking Christ, was it always this big?"

"That's what she said."

I blinked and stared at Mercy as we stood in front of the massive Hell Gate. The walk down had been a quick one, we knew the way well. It's smooth surface, looked almost mirror like as we stood in front of it.

"Did you just make a joke?" I'm not gonna lie, I considered laughing.

"Yes. Dante told me once that he uses humor to relax in situations that make him scared or worried." Mercy looked at me, a brilliant smile on her face.

I chuckled, as I drew Dante's sword, "Well I'll be damned, you learned how to be funny."

"Yes." She grinned happily and drew Yamato as well.

Surprisingly the joke did relax me a bit. The negative energy coming off the Gate was intense and my jaw was starting to hurt from clenching my teeth.

"Now remember, during the Fall we must focus on his Castle. If we focus hard enough we should end up directly inside. As long as we are quick we shouldn't loose any time when we come back. Provided we are back before the sun rises here."

"So..." I glanced at my watch, "Four hours to get in, kill everything in sight and rip a Demon Lord's head off."

"Precisely."

"Piece of cake." I agreed

Mercy and I both chuckled, mine a little lower in pitch compared to her's as we faced the Gate.

"On my mark..."

We brought both sword up, steadied in both hands.

"One..." She started.

"Two..." I said next.

"THREE!" We yelled at the same time, driving both swords into the Hell Gate. I expected it to take a lot of force, but once the blades touched the Gate it was like a hot knife through butter and we were yanked forward into blinding white light.

 


	48. Problems

I was falling...

And it wasn't the 'I jumped out of a perfectly good air plane with a parachute' kind of falling. No, this was the 'Holy fuck, I'm falling in the darkest void known; to enter a castle filled with demons—in a land with demons, to kill their ruler' kind of falling.

"A—......Ali—.... Focus!"

I heard Mercy yelling, just barely over the wind whipping past my ears. I opened my eyes just a bit to see her next to me. Somewhere along the way she lost her hoodie to expose her wings and a loose t-shirt that was obviously Vergil's, modified for her wings. They stretched out briefly, slowing her fall just enough to match mine.

_Crap, focus..._

"Castle, castle, castle..." I chanted as my eyes squeezed shut again. The last time I was here Mundus had drawn me here in a haze and controlled my Fall. But the Fall was able to put you anywhere within the Demon World if you thought hard enough and wanted it bad enough. Well...if you were stupid enough, I should say.

We were definitely that stupid.

I kept chanting as I tried to focus on the castle, but it was hard to picture it in my head. Instead I found myself thinking of the dungeons, far below it. It's shadows and dark secrets. I felt more than saw Mercy as she drifted next to me and grabbed my free hand. By some miracle I still hand Dante's sword tight in my grip.

"Hold on!" She yelled right next to my ear. A split second later we hit the hard compacted dirt, causing us both to let out a yell.

"Sonofabitch!" I yelled as I rolled over on my side. Dante's sword just barely missed taking my damn leg off.

"Are you alright?" Mercy asked as I looked up. She looked just as dirty as me, but she was already on her feet.

"Yep." I groaned as I slowly sat up. Mercy kneeled next to me and looked me over.

"I am sorry. I tried to make it a soft landing but going through that many walls took a lot of concentration."

"Walls?" I asked, but she didn't need to answer as our surroundings finally alerted my brain to where we were. I looked around as an unsettled feeling of familiarity seemed to hit me.

"Are we...?" I murmured as she nodded and held out her hand to me. It took it and with one swift pull, she had me up on me feet as she stood next to me.

I recognized it immediately. This was were I became aware of myself...where Mercy was tortured for eons. Her scent was faded, but I could still smell the blood of her son on the stone wall where she has drawn a small picture of Nero as a baby; just two shallow inches from the floor where the chains of Divine metal held her.

Mercy followed my gaze and walked over to the spot where she had been chained for too long. Kneeling down, she ran her finger tips over the small image. I watched her for a moment, her face betrayed nothing as she hazed at it. As I watched, I noticed there was something written next to it in blood.

"What's this?" I asked softly, coming up and kneeling next to her as I sheathed Dante's sword on my back.

"Angelic scripts." She whispered, the waver in her voice was enough, but she continued. "It says: My love, our son is beautiful. Please forgive me. I...I wanted Vergil to know that he had a son. But I believed them both to be dead. I shouldn't have made myself forget...but I was still trying to keep myself intact."

I watched as she frowned suddenly, a mixture of anger and guilt in her face. "Alice, no matter how bad the pain, how hard it is to live with the decisions you make; always remember. Even if you think it will kill you. Remember."

What could I say to that? There were times since I had been in a body that I could forget, but when I almost did I...I found that I cherished those memories. Even the bad ones. They meant something to me.

"I will."

Mercy glanced at me and then closed her eyes, nodding. A moment later she stood and I followed.

"We must hurry, time is waning and we have many levels to go through until we reach his inner chamber."

I nodded, my hand absently rubbing my lower belly. I wasn't feeling sick, but something felt off... Like I was missing something. Then it dawned me me, I couldn't feel Dante's link to me anymore.

"Hey," my voice slightly pained, "Can you feel Vergil?"

I was thankful that she understood and I didn't have to explain. Mercy looked at me sadly and shook her head.

"No. Bonds do not work through the Gate. We are occupying a different space of reality. Alice..." She said, standing in front of me and taking my hands. My heart was pounding loudly and I was breathing hard. I felt like...I was half alive...like I was fading faster than I should have.

"Alice, focus." Mercy said sternly, her energy wrapped around me and my eyes snapped to hers wildly.

"Calm yourself. I will not let you fade. The moment we step outside this cell we will have to defend ourselves. Absorb as much of their energy as you can, Dante's blade will help as it is Dante's. It will weaken the demon hoard as well as allow for easier transference. Do you understand?"

I nodded a little to quickly and tried to steady myself. Suddenly I did feel so confident in my bad assary. I finally managed to nod at her and she gave my hands a squeeze.

"Whatever you do, protect yourself."

"Okay..." I said without feeling. I was beginning to have my doubts about this plan. Holy fuck what was I thinking?!

"Come." Mercy said as she let go of my hands and walked towards the heavy cell door. I forced myself to follow and she offered up a soft smile.

It said that everything was going to be okay.

Right...

* * *

Everything was _not_ okay.

We were currently huddled behind a small stone alter which was used to amuse Mundus when he held his court. The once white stone was now a deep, reddish black color from the layers of blood from demon, angel and human alike. Thousands of years of death coated it and the smell was making bile rise up in the back of my throat.

An electric blast hit the other side of the alter and the sound echoed. Mercy was currently helping me tie a piece of her t-shirt she ripped off to stop the massive bleeding in my arm. I'd been a little too timid for some unknown fucking reason and took a nasty slash from a demon sword.

It hasn't seemed to matter how many I killed and tried to suck their energy out of, my body wasn't able to heal quick at all and everything hurt. I was growing weaker by the moment and I had half a mind to just tell Mercy that we were done.

"Faith." She said as she finished tying the cloth.

"Uh huh." I grounded and Mercy poked my injured arm.

"Ow! Goddamnit Mercy—!" My shout brought another onslaught of energy balls and one weirdly shaped hatchet that flew over the top of the alter and stuck in the nearby wall.

"Have faith. If you loose the will now, we will die."

I wasn't able to yell at her anymore because she was gone, phasing through the store alter. Which was immediately followed by a lot of fighting, screaming and gurgling wet sounds. After a few long seconds it was quiet and I slowly peeked over the edge of the alter.

"Did ya kill 'em?" I asked casually. The evidence was clear enough, the five demonic bastards we're currently in various pieces littered around the floor. Mercy stood in the center of the mess, her angelic pearl armor was splattered with blood as she turned. She gnawed briefly on the arm she'd ripped off and tossed it aside. The soft white of her wings were splattered too.

I was sure if her man was here he'd be all over her.

Mercy smiled softly, a weird look with her amor covering her face.

"Yes. We must hurry, we are close. I can feel him."

I nodded and stood, leaning on the alter with far too much weight. My legs felt wobbly and my stomach was pissed off me again. Once I was sure I wasn't going to loose more contents of my stomach, I followed Mercy to the only door out of the room.

"I bet you can't wait to take a bath huh?" I chuckled, poking her wings.

Mercy nodded, "Demon blood, it gets everywhere."

We both chuckled as we went to push the door open. It looked a lot harder, but the moment we started pushing it opened wide with little force behind it.

And that's when we ended up staring wide eyed as the beautiful fallen Angel, the bane of my existence and Mercy's...

"It's so nice to see you two again...Mercy....Alice...." Mundus's lips curled into a ruthless smile as he stood in the doorway. "It's been..." He sniffed the air, scenting us, "...too long."


	49. Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so after countless hours of brainstorming and shitty nights of sleep...I've finally done it!
> 
> Now some may be happy, some maybe disappointed...hell some of you may even be confused. 
> 
> But rest assured, the wrap up will explain what was going on behind the scenes for this chapter. 
> 
> Also, I really suck at action bits (it's something I'm going to have to work on) so hopefully it's not confusing.
> 
> Thank you guys!

Mercy and I slowly stepped back as Mundus stepped forward, slowly...deliberately. His hands were behind his back, no tension in his bare chest and shoulders. Skin perfectly tanned and toned, his eyes were a wicked black mix of darkness and evil. I wasn't able to keep my injured arm from tumbling as I gripped Dante's sword a little harder.

Mundus noticed the small movement and smirked, his shoulder length hair shifting slightly as his head tilted to focus on me.

"Oh? What's this? You missed me so much you came back for more?"

His words didn't bother hiding their seductive inclination and I gritted my teeth. God, I wanted to cut this fuckers head off. I wanted to scream at him, dance on his bloodied corpse and maybe burn him on top of his own alter.

I was just about to say as much when Mercy drew his gaze by bringing Yamato up in a fighting stance. Her wings poised just so as the glow in her eyes brightened.

"Mundus...or should I call you Sudnüm like in the old days." Her voice was smooth, cold and so devoid of emotion, that it was almost like Vergil himself was standing there.

Mundus turned his full attention on Mercy, his eyes faintly glowing red as his face went from sadistic amusement to empty.

"No one has called me that since you were first captured...Ycrém." His eyes glinted for a moment as he said... What was it? A name? I narrowed my eyes as I glanced at Mercy, who smiled softly as her gaze stayed on him.

"Yes, that is true."

Silence slipped into the large stone room as Mercy and I kept our eyes on Mundus. I wasn't sure how the hell we were supposed to kill him. The only one in fighting condition between the two of us was Mercy...I was feeling so tired and weak, I could barely make myself keep standing there.

Mundus smiled suddenly as his gaze shifted between us, a look of pure delight on his face. It was so...out of nowhere that I blinked dumbly at him.

"Tsk, tsk Mercy. You're Shadow has followed in your foot steps. Do I have the honor of ripping the baby from her—"

Mercy growled low and demonic as her eyes flashed red. If I would have had enough strength I would have went for him, but as it was, he was a little too far away and I wasn't sure My body could move quick enough.

But I knew what could move quick enough...ugh, maybe I do have a death wish.

"Hey, limp dick." I said in my best amused voice, hefting Dante's sword up on my shoulder as I smirked at him. I was covered in my own blood, dirt and who the hell knew what else. But if it's one thing I learned from Dante, confidence was key.

Mundus's eyes snapped to me as they glowed brighter. Anger etched his face as he glared at me.

"I just wanted you to know—you know before I cut your fucking head off—that Dante is much better in the sack than you. Hell, I bet even Vergil is better. I mean you should here those two, it's like listening to cats in heat—"

Mercy didn't faulter from her fighting stance as my mouth ran away with itself. Mercy may have had this big elaborate plan for us to kill him, but... The longer I stood there, the weaker I felt and I knew in my heart that this was a suicide mission. We weren't going to walk out of here. Not together anyway. Mercy could at least fly and if she was fast enough, she might be able to get out. Me on the other hand... Well, I'd have to catch up with Dante in my next life...

If there was one.

"—I mean you gotta give the guy some credit for being able to handle the fact that his wife, Angel that she is, can suck the life out of him while fucking him. And he's totally okay with it! I think he likes it actually. I'm more of a giver you know? Oh wait...you don't know."

The energy in the room was getting darker and out of the corner of my eye I saw Mercy's armor spread over her arms, face and hands silently. I tilted my head slightly as I smirked at Mundus's face. It was a twisted mix of anger, lust, envy and scorn. Oh yeah, he was pissed...

But not enough, so I added the final blow.

"You have to tie women up and rape their bodies and minds in order for them give themselves to you. See? That's what this fucking slice of Hell is missing...mutual respect, understanding and—LOVE. No wonder you bastards killed ea—"

I didn't get to finish my sentence, which was actually fine by me. The facade of looking tough was tiring and when Mundus's clawed, demonic hand grabbed me by the neck and threw me towards the alter I didn't care.

Time seemed to slow down as I went towards the alter. I caught Mercy's gaze and her eyes widened slightly as I smiled at her.

It was my apology smile, one that said I was—but not really—sorry.

_Time to give up me Mercy, go home and live your life and tell Dante I'm sorry._

It said all the things I couldn't say with words.

I let go of Dante's sword as Mercy let out a loud scream, Mundus laughing manically. His eyes were alight with happiness as I hit the edge of the alter. Something gave with a loud snap and the air rushed out of my lungs. I fell to the stone floor in a heap as I tried gasping for air.

_I can't...breathe..._

For the first time since I found out I was pregnant, I felt something... In my lower abdomen, a fluttering kind of feeling. It was so gentle and soft, like the fragile beat of butterfly wings and I felt my pounding heart suddenly stop.

Distantly I was aware of Mercy fighting Mundus, the singing mental of Yamato just barely missing him.

And then I felt it...

An energy that I didn't recognize spread out and time leaped forward. I gasped, finally able to get air again. Blood splatter on the floor as I coughed up blood. The energy intensified, grew to fill my whole body. The bones that is broken in my back when I hit the alter healed quicker than anything had before.

God I felt good....

Better than I had since I first was forced into a physical form. I felt...powerful.

Mercy screamed painfully behind me, followed by a loud thud and the frantic beat of her wings. Before my mind could really process what I was doing or what I should do, I stood up and walked over to Dante's sword that I'd dropped. The moment the hilt touched my hand, I felt Dante's energy wrap around me like a warm blanket and I felt something inside me relax.

"Don't worry baby," I said softly, rubbing my lower belly. My injured arm was even healed, there was no more pain. No more fear.

I eyed Mundus's exposed back as he pinned Mercy face down on the floor. One of her wings was broken and he held her by her arms as he whispered in her ear. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but the dead look in Mercy's eyes as he spoke was enough for me to snap.

The steady rhythm of energy running through me whispered to me. Not in words that I could understand, but in emotions. So deep and so intense that without making a sound or realizing that I had moved, I had plunged Dante's sword into Mundus's back.

He screamed in rage and I wrapped my legs around his waist, forcing my body to hang on as he stood and tried to get me off of him.

"YOU BITCH!" He snarled as he tried to claw at me and still I shoved the sword deeper. He let out a pained howl as he back peddled and slammed me into a nearby wall. The stone cracked as he continued to slam my back repeatedly against it. I screamed back, right in his ear.

"FUCK YOU!"

My vision narrowed and suddenly everything turned red. The haze was thick I could barely see, but I didn't need to see. I just needed to get his heart. I could almost feel it's panicked beat in the blood that spilled between us.

I wrapped my arm around his neck to get a better grip. Moving slightly, I made sure my body was out of the way of the hilt as I gripped his hair in my other hand. He'd paused in slamming me up against the wall and yanked his head hard to the side. That thirst....that painful need I felt the first night I was alive and killed those two women, rose. The feeling pushed out the waves of emotions, so jumbled and mixed running through my body.

My mouth ached and I snapped my sharp teeth down on his collar bone, breaking it. He screamed again and tried to retaliate by slamming me back against the wall. But I had moved and instead the hilt pinged loud as it stuck against the wall and plunged the sword the rest of the way into his chest.

A wet, gurgled sound escaped Mundus as I continued to rip into his neck. He staggered forward and a then fell to his knees. I felt the energy try and leave his body, but I suck my teeth in deeper and yanked it forcefully out of him. His body spasmed involuntarily as his energy filled me.

It hurt, oh god did it hurt. So many eons of death, pain and hatred...it filled me up and I dug my clawed hands into his muscled flesh. So many deaths at the hands of this.....

Monster...

Demon....

...Angel...

I paused.

All demons were angels... They forgot how to love, they scorned it. All that love turning to hate, anger...their hearts were blacker than night.

Heart...

Something pushed at me, urging me to follow my train of thought, driving me to action. In a smooth motion, I let go of his neck and removed Dante's sword. It had made a clean hole straight to his heart and without hesitation I plunged my hand into his back and ripped his heart out.

Mundus fell forward with a hard wet thump as I stared as his black, bloody heart. Something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye and I turned, seeing Mercy slowly crawling towards me, her arm was bent at an odd angle like her wing and I blinked at her.

"Eat it." She whispered, "You must...finish it."

Her face looked pained and I hesitated, but only for a moment as in the next breath I felt Mundus stir beneath me. Like he was trying to wake up from a deep sleep. A deadly growl escaped my lips as I sunk my teeth into the heart.

Mundus's body spasmed and screams rose from his lips in beautiful, horrified pain.

It was _delightful_...

And his heart...was _delicious_.

 


	50. Wings

I devoured the heart like it was my last meal. I ate every scrap while Mundus twitched and screamed beneath me until I swallowed the last piece and he stopped.

I sat there on his body, covered in his blood with my head back and my eyes closed. The energy I'd taken in was coursing through me, whispering dark evil things and drowning out the warmth I'd felt before. At first I didn't have room for thoughts as the sickly flow shifted and throbbed. I thought perhaps that I would just absorb the energy like I had with the two women, the feeling felt similar.

But that wasn't what happened...not even close.

All that negative energy, all that Mundus was—his thoughts, memories, emotions—turned sharp and I screamed as pain rose from it. I fell off of Mundus's body and landed on the floor next to him. The pain felt like being burned, shot, stabbed—every possible thing you could think of, balled up into one horrific dagger.

And it knew my name...

Alice...

It whispered and I cried as I felt cool hands grab my face and force me to hold still.

"Alice!" Mercy screamed, "You must nullify the energy!"

"I—I CAN'T! OH FUCK MAKE IT STOP!" I screamed, the pain doubled and I tried to claw my arms. My skin was on fire, I was burning. Oh god...I'm going to die!

"You can! Focus! Find the Light in the Darkness! It's there! I promise you! It's there!" She cried, cool wet tear streaming down her face as she forced me to stay still. My body started to spasm, making me lose all control over my arms and legs.

The negative energy twisted my insides and I felt blood rise up from my throat and trickle down the corner of my mouth. I couldn't think, let a lone focus. If there was any Light, it had been gone for a long time....

"Think of Dante! Think of Vergil! Of Nero! Think of us Alice! Think of your baby! She gives you strength, we all do! You must focus on that feeling and find it!" Mercy's panicked voice was frantic as she kept trying to hold me still.

I faintly felt the slight flutter in my lower belly. A reminder of my so called life, of Dante...

Dante...

I could almost feel him close by, like our bond was muted somehow, but still there. I felt the small part of me, the part that wasn't yet consumed by this horrid Darkness, reach out and cling to that bond. I pulled on it with everything I had. The love I had for Dante, that he had for me, mixed together into one. With it the small hint of love and affection from our unborn child slipped in and I found the Light in the Darkness.

* * *

Blinking against the bright white light, it took my eyes a moment to adjust to my surroundings. I was standing in a beautiful forest that felt alive and strong. The faint life force energy of the plant life shifted and moved calmly, almost humming a soothing song. The sun was high in the sky, but under the trees the light slipped through creating gentle rays of warmth. It was peaceful...

"Hello...Alice."

I tensed, spinning around as I heard an all too familiar voice say my name. The moment my eyes saw him, I ended up staring at him.

"Uh...Mundus?" I asked. The man in front of me didn't look like him, but the voice was a dead match. Thought it wasn't dark at all, in fact it was gentle and...kind.

The man nodded once, his petite frame lean and slender. He wore a simple white t-shirt and a pair of tan slacks. Shoulder length silver hair shifted around his shoulders slightly as he smiled, eyes the deepest blue I'd ever seen shinning like jewels.

"Yes, though that is not my true name." He said gently and I frowned, my mind racing to figure out what was going on. For once, I kept my mouth shut, Vergil would have been proud.

"My name is Sudnüm, I was an Archangel once. A long, long time ago." He smiled sadly as he continued to look at me and still I said nothing. Or maybe, I couldn't think of a damn thing to say. A first really.

"Ycrém, or Mercy as you know her, was the last Pure Angel our race created. She was made different from the others. While we are beings made of the Light, she was made from the soul of a human. One who sacrificed themselves to save their family." He paused for a moment, letting out a soft sigh as if he was remembering before he continued.

"She was our last hope to save ourselves and the humans who we grew envious of. She shows compassion where we would be distant. She knows their pain, while we cannot understand their fears. You are part of her, a part that I believe grew because of the human soul she possess. She feared losing herself to Darkness and cast you out as a shadow like so many of her kind did. But where their shadows faded, you thrived. Where theirs grew mad with being detached from their origin, you grew self aware and even jealous of her."

I couldn't seem to stop looking at him and for some fucking reason my eyes were watering. I was not going to cry in front of this son of a bitch.

"Why are you telling me this?" There was a shit ton of other questions, like where the hell were we and why wasn't he dead? But I figured I'd get to those in a minute.

Mundus, or Sudnüm I guess, stepped forward and slowly reached out, placing his hand on my shoulder. Giving it a soft squeeze he smiled sadly.

"I am sorry for all the pain I have caused. For all the lives of my kind and the humans I've killed in the name of hate and anger. And I'm...sorry for what I did to you. Though I do not expect your forgiveness.

Thank you Alice. You and Mercy both for freeing me from my burdens. I'm forever in your debt and I'm afraid I cannot repay you."

We ended up staring at each other and as much as I wanted to punch him in the face and rip his heart out all over again, I knew that this wasn't Mundus. This was Sudnüm, who he was before he fell from 'grace'.

"You're...welcome." I frowned. Not sure if I meant that or not. Sudnüm smiled brightly then and gave my shoulder one last squeeze before letting it go and turning to leave. As he started to walk away, he paused and looked back at me. A hint of a mischievous and playful smile on his lips.

"Congratulations on your victory...Écila."

"Huh?"

What the hell did he just call me?

He chuckled, "Bring Light to the world and do not worry. Your 'sister' will help you on your path to 'grace'."

"Uh...I really don't understand—"

Sudnüm winked at me, "But you will..."

* * *

I gasped as I rolled over and began sucking in air, sweet, precious air. My body felt like I'd been hit by a train repeatedly and I groaned.

"Alice!?" Mercy she shrieked, hugging me suddenly.

"Ow! Owowow! Damnit! Mercy not so hard—." I half heartedly yelled. Oh man...I need a week of sleep and a thousand showers before I was going to feel normal again.

"It's a miracle! I thought—but then—!"

"Ugh, Mercy, headache here."

I slowly tried to push myself up but my shoulders cracked loudly. Something shifted and at first I thought it was the familiar beat of Mercy's wings. I glanced at her because I thought maybe her wings were going to smack me and then I'd be pissed but instead I paused.

"Uh...Mer?" I said hesitantly as I looked down at my side where a long soft, white feathered wing shifted slightly. I thought maybe I was seeing things, but when it lifted and tried to tuck in behind me I just about lost my shit.

"What the Fu—!"

Mercy let out a laugh and threw her arms around me again, "You did it! You earned your wings! I can't...I just...Alice!" She screamed happily and I winced, my ears ringing.

"Whoa! Hold on! How the hell did I 'earn' my..." I blinked as I trailed off.

Sudnüm, that son of a bitch...


	51. Passion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty folks, this is it. The last chapter. 
> 
> I've so enjoyed writing this one. Honestly, I wasn't sure if I was going in the right direction or even if it was going to work with all the details from the first, but--I think I pulled it off. 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading. I think I loved writing this so much because of you guys. I'll be going back through this as well as Angels May Fall for some editing. Maybe flesh out a few parts that need it and so forth. I'm sorry this took a little long on the updates towards the end, but writing on a touch screen tablet is a pain in the ass.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys subscribe to me and see what else I come up with. As always any feedback is appreciated and if I could give you guys hugs I total would to show how much you all mean to me. 
> 
> Thank you again, from the bottom of my heart. 
> 
> Without further ado....

The walk out of Mundu's castle was cake considering we came from the dungeons and worked our way up to his altar room. I guess word travels fast in Hell because our route out was a lot quicker, easier and shorter than the one we had taken in the beginning. Dead corpses of demons and pools of black, thick blood were here and there. But honestly, you can't storm the castle of a Demon Lord and not kill a few demons.

“These wings suck ass.” I said for the hundredth time as we made our way down a wide, barely torch lit hallway that lead to the main door of the castle.

Mercy merely smiled at me, not giving two shits about my struggles of walking with the stupid things. My balance was all off and they were sensitive. Every time I bumped into something or moved wrong, I'd get shooting pains or tingling sensations. They also tended to shift and move of their own damn accord, which kept freaking me out.

“I said, these wings suck ass.” I grumbled again.

She chuckled softly and grinned at me, “Yes, I believe you've said that before.”

I rolled my eyes as we kept walking. We may have been healed completely on the surface, but that didn't mean we weren't sore. Mercy's left wing kept fluttering now and then, unable to hold still. From when I first saw the injury, it looked like Mundus had tried to rip her wings off. Her arm had been broken in the struggle. Me on the other hand, had some interesting back pain going on. My body couldn't seem to make up its mind if it was healing or hurting still. I guess that's what happens when you break your spine and sever your spinal cord.

“You're a really smart ass sometimes you know that? You don't have to be so damn cheeky.” I might have been bitchy because of the back pain and the stupid angelic wings, but the banter was actually making me feel better.

Aside from the pain in my body, the steady flow of energy pulsing from my lower abdomen and my bond with Dante was loud and clear. Mercy had said that the bond didn't work in Hell because of it being a different reality. I wasn't sure why I was feeling him now. It wasn't even really emotion, it was more like a groggy, exhausted feeling and it was making me feel more shitty than I already was.

“I'm not being cheeky.” Mercy said as we finally reached the main door. We made it all the way back without encountering one single enemy. Surprising considering we just killed Hell's ruler. Then again, maybe not. The guy was kind of a dick.

“Yes you are.”

“No. I'm simply trying to convey my understanding to your plights. But regardless, I am so happy that you will no longer disappear from this world or any other. You've earned it. I'm proud of you.”

I sighed and pushed the door open with a hard shove. Her words made me feel weird, like embarrassed with a mix of shyness. I'd have liked to of blamed it on the pregnancy hormones, but...

What can I say? Sometimes you just want someone to say their proud of you.

“Alright, enough. Now you're getting mushy. By the way, I'm I supposed to feel the bond? I've been feeling it ever since I hit that altar.”

The main door creaked open after a moment, a cool brimstone scented wind stinging our eyes for a moment. Fucking Christ, Hell was...well Hell.

“That's because you are the most undisciplined, stupid and unbelievable woman I've ever met.” Said a harsh, cold voice.

“What--?!” Startled, I stopped mid motion to see Vergil standing not more than a few yards away from us. He was bloody, dirty and irritated looking. Right next to him was Snowball, panting ice crystals and wagging her tail. She gave me a happy grin, but didn't bolt right to me as I thought she would. Instead I caught sight of Dante, passed out and strapped to her back with what looked to be old ropes.

“Wait... I... Why...?” My words stumbled out of my mouth as I stood frozen to the spot, eyes on Dante. My chest gave a pained ache and before I could realize what I was doing, I was suddenly beside Snowball and holding his face with my hands. He was cool to the touch and looked about three shades too white, but he was breathing without a scratch on him.

“Dante...?” I whispered. I wanted to wake him up, but the bond was a hazy mess of unconsciousness and suddenly I knew why.

Snapping my head around, I looked at Vergil. Mercy had come over to stand next to him and place a gentle kiss on his cheek.

“Thank you for coming. I hope your battle was well?” Mercy asked, her voice light like she was talking about a business trip instead of a trip to Hell.

Vergil simply nodded and turned his attention back to me, glaring daggers. I frowned and crossed my arms, ignoring the wince when Snowball sniffed my new wings with her icy breath.

“Why do I get the feeling you're going to yell at me?”

Vergil smirked, his stony face echoing Dante's for a heartbeat.

“While I would love to indulge, I'm afraid it will have to wait. The sun is about to rise and we need to leave.”

I nodded and looked at Dante for a moment. He looked so peaceful passed out on Snowball's back. I was kind of surprised that Vergil had strapped him to her though. Snowball gave my face a frozen lick and I laughed. It was a pained sound, mixed with a happy one. Relief maybe? Happiness?

I wasn't sure.

* * *

 

Dante groaned as he rolled over. His whole body hurt like hell and he was pretty damn sure he was close to dying at some point. Vergil had warned him that once they entered the Gate that he was probably going to get smacked with a whole mess of crap from their bond. Which for the record, was _not_ an accurate description of what had happened. Alice had pretty much gripped onto him and tried to suck the life out of him.

Or so he thought...

It wasn't her energy though. It was something new and...personal. It knew him, knew her and was filled with such love and anger he wasn't sure what the fuck had happened. He still wasn't. In fact when he was awake again he was going to ask Alice for the details. 

Dante's hand found smooth bare skin as his arm flopped over. His hand rested there gently and for a moment he let his finger tips drift over the exposed patch of warmth. His finger tips brushed the small Y shaped fold of her hip and she moaned softly in her sleep. He knew it was her before he even heard her make that noise. Their bond was humming gently along with her deep sleep. 

Moving his arm around her mid section, Dante pulled them closer together so he could nuzzle her hair.  Something was in the way though. Something soft, feathery and strong. Heavy relief hit him hard when he realized that Alice had done what Mercy had planned. She'd eaten the heart of Mundus, the oldest fallen angel and absorbed his energy, purifying it. 

The sweet, spicy smell of her shampoo tickled his nose and he wasn't able to stop himself from kissing her exposed neck. He briefly noticed that her hair was shorter, but he paid it no mind. It didn't matter to him that she cut it, all that mattered was that she was solid and in his arms. 

If it weren't for his brother being there when their bond cut off, he probably would have Devil Trigged and lost himself in a rage. The emotional detachment was so painful it felt like he was dying. Even Vergil, who knew about Mercy's plan to take Alice to kill Mundus, wasn't unaffected by Mercy leaving either. The two of them had just barely held onto their sanity as Vergil explained what was happening. Which he was going to get Mercy, Vergil and Alice back for keeping him out of the loop. 

Alice moaned a louder as he found her sensitive spot along the nape of her neck. She'd subconsciously arched her back, making her round ass grind into him. He was already hard and when the soft skin of her pressed against his exposed member, he growled lowly in her ear. 

The bond flickered and Dante knew the moment she was awake. He felt it in her breathing and body as well as his mind. She came awake with a start and sat up, almost hitting him the face with one of her wings. 

“Dante?!” 

He opened his eyes and gave her his best sexy smile as he looking into her beautiful face. She may have looked exactly like Mercy, but those blue eyes only showed his Alice. Tears welled up as she brought her hands up to her face, covering her mouth. It was cutest gesture she'd ever done, so innocent. A flicker of Mercy and yet, still her. 

“Hey Sexy...” He purred at her and in the next breath they were kissing. Her lips found his in a hungry rush and then immediately melted into sweet, yearning. He ran his hands over her naked body and caressed it with his hands. She melted into him and he grinned as she slowly pulled back to look at him. Soft red tears stained her cheeks and he smiled softer. She really had earned her wings. 

“Dante...” 

She said his name like a prayer, a sincere confection of love and relief. So many things slipped wordlessly through their bond and cupped her face with his hands to bring her into a passionate kiss. An eternity ticked by, surrounded by sheets of warmth and needful bodies that when she pulled back they were both panting. 

“Dante, I have to tell you something...”

“If it's about your new feathered friends, don't worry. I've always loved wings on chicks.” He said smoothly and she gave him a look with a smirk on her full lips. 

“No, that's not it.” 

“If it's about you going off to Hell to kill Mundus, don't worry. You'll be thoroughly punished.” He purred as he kissed the top of her breast. She shivered and she shook her head, trying to concentrate through his teasing. 

“Dante, I'm trying to tell you--”

“Yes?”

“I'm pregnant.”

Those two little words hit him in the gut with a suddenness he wasn't expecting, drawing him up away from her breast to look at her. She looked nervous and timid, like she didn't know what he was going to say or how he was going to feel. 

“You're so cute. After all the bullshit you've put me through you think I'm going to bail on you now?” 

She blinked at him, clearly taken aback before smiling. Her tears were back, but now they weren't of relief, they were of joy. 

“Really?” 

As if she needed confirmation, he knew she feel his acceptance and love through their bond. He'd never leave her and honestly if she wasn't pregnant before, she was going to be after tonight.  He was going to make love to her until Hell froze over. 

She laughed suddenly and he smiled, “What's so funny?” 

“That you want to make love until Hell freezes over.” 

Dante stared at her for a moment and then chuckled, “You know, that reading minds thing is kind of sexy. I see why Bro is so into Mercy now.” 

“Hey, no talking about my sister when were about to make love.” 

“Sister?” He laughed then. She growled at him and poked his side, giving him a good jolt. 

“Yes. Sister.” 

“Ah well, I'd hate to ruin the mood.” He laughed again, wiggling his eye brows at her. She laughed too and he wrapped his arms around her back, careful to not jostle her wings. He kissed her deeply, pulling her down on top of him so she could feel how happy he was that she was there with him. 

Their kiss paused and she looked at him with so much emotion in her eyes that it echoed through their bond in a warm wash. 

“I love you.” Her voice was breathy and Dante kept her gaze, seriousness and passion showing on his face. 

“I love you too. But don't think you're going to be walking right come morning.” 

Alice smirked at him and nibbled his bottom lip, “Challenge accepted.”

God he loved this woman. 


End file.
